It's What We Do To Survive (A Walking Dead & Negan AU story)
by hopeforfall1
Summary: A Walking Dead AU where Negan has his men capture a woman that robbed one of his supply trucks. This woman turns out to be his best friend, from before the world ended. Sort of a slow burn.
1. Chapter 1

"You stupid little bitch!" the man called out as he began to pace around the small house he had chased me into.  
I had managed to tuck myself into a closet, hiding behind a pile of clothes. My gun at the ready.  
I could hear the heavy thud of his boots on the hardwood floor.  
He sure wasn't trying to be stealthy about catching us.  
"You don't get to steal from my men and get away with it!" he called out again.  
I could hear him climbing the stairs now.  
I was part of a small group. We did well for ourselves, but their truck was sitting there.  
Full of supplies, with no one guarding it. It was their fault really.  
They were well kept, clean cut, they didn't appear to need it that bad.  
However, it had been about a week since we took the supplies and they were still hung up over it.  
So they must have wanted them pretty bad.  
I let out a sigh as I heard him rummaging around upstairs.  
I carefully pushed the clothes aside, trying my best to be quiet as I pushed the closet doors open slowly.  
The hinges of the door whined as I pushed them open.  
I paused, listening.  
I could still hear him tossing things around, which meant he didn't hear me.  
I crossed the floor quietly, holding my bag tightly as I made my way out of the bedroom.  
Once I was in the hall, I crept quietly around to the back door.  
I was free.  
I started to run, down the back yard and into the woods and I didn't look back.  
My friends knew where to meet me.  
I caught a glimpse of the blonde, Elaina.  
I veered off my path, running over to her.  
She was taking cover behind a tree.  
"You're not exactly out of sight" I said with a laugh as I got down beside her.  
I was trying to catch my breath.  
"Where is Marcus?" She asked worriedly.  
"I didn't see him in the house, I think he was cut off by some of the men. Don't worry, he can handle  
himself" I said reassuringly.  
Elaina and Marcus were my best friends.  
We were the scavengers for our little group. We were damn good at it too.  
"We shouldn't have come back out so soon. Not after they almost caught us last time" Elaina sighed, pushing herself up to peek around to see if she could see anything.  
"It's fine. Marcus knows exactly what to do" I was trying to comfort her.  
I knew she loved him. It was obvious.  
 _I did too._  
It was easy to love him.  
He was incredibly smart and brave, and handsome.  
But I knew he loved her.  
I tried to shake away those thoughts as I turned my attention back to the house.  
We had a limited view of it from where we were, but we could see the men coming out of it.  
Elaina let out a sigh.  
At least they didn't have Marcus.  
But as soon as we started to feel relieved, we heard a few gun shots.  
They seemed far, maybe on the other side of the house towards the road.  
Elaina started to get up, but I grabbed her arm.  
"No! Stay here. They might be trying to lure us out" I said as I held tightly to her.  
"It could be Marcus!" She snapped back.  
A few more shots rang out and she wiggled from my grip, taking off back towards the house.  
"Damn it, Elaina!" I called out as I stood, running after her.  
I managed to catch up with her just as she made it out of the tree line, but it was too late.  
The men had already spotted us.  
They pointed their guns at us, but the man in front held up his hand.  
"No, don't shoot. He wants them alive" He commanded.  
I took a hold of Elaina's hand, pulling her back towards the woods.  
We ran deeper into the trees and cut left, heading towards the creek.  
We heard the whistle that stopped us dead in our tracks.  
 _It was Marcus_.  
He was standing on the other side of the creek  
"Come on" he urged us.  
We looked up and down the creek.  
It wasn't deep, but the water was moving and we didn't need to be weighted down by water logged boots.  
I could hear the men close behind us, barreling through the woods.  
I helped Elaina up onto a log to cross the creek, Marcus waiting on the other side for her.  
"I found them!" one of the men yelled as he made his way towards us.  
Elaina looked back to me, shaking her head.  
She knew exactly what I would do.  
"Go! Marcus just take her and go!" I urged them.  
He gave me a look, nodding.  
He understood and I was grateful of that.  
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back before they disappeared into the woods.  
The man caught up with me and soon I was surrounded by them.  
I had my gun drawn, pointing between each of them.  
It was useless really, I could maybe take one of them down, but not all of them.  
"Come on, little girl. Drop the gun" The tall man with grey hair laughed.  
I wasn't going to go easily.  
"Fuck you!" I snapped.  
He walked forward, and in a fluid motion, pulled the gun from my hand.  
But he was met with a solid punch.  
I whined a bit, grabbing my hand as it ached.  
"Fuck!" he stumbled back, holding his nose.  
"Little bitch" he growled and two other men circled me.  
They dug their boots into the back of my leg, making me stumble forward on my knees.  
They took a hold of my arms, holding me back.  
"Forget the other two. Let's focus on taking this one back to him" the corner of his lip twitched as he spoke, looking down at me.  
I was going to protest, to demand to know where we were going.  
But before I could, they placed something over my head where I couldn't see.  
I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head and I was gone.

The sound of the heavy truck door closing jolted me awake.  
I went to sit up, but felt a hand tighten around my arm.  
"Oh no, you aren't going anywhere" the man said.  
I still couldn't see.  
I could hear the muffled sounds outside of the truck. I could recognize the voice belonged to the tall man with the grey hair.  
He was instructing someone on where to take me.  
The door opened and I was pulled out of the truck, tossed down on my knees again.  
The pavement beneath me was hot and made me wince.  
But then I heard it. I could hear the clanking of something moving against a fence and the snarls of Walkers.  
 _Where the hell was I?_  
The men got another hold of my arms and struggled to get me to my feet.  
"It's your lucky day, you get to meet the boss" the man who had been sitting in the truck with me teased.  
They began to tow me forward.  
But again, I wasn't going to go easy.  
I fought them the best I could, wiggling in their grip and kicking my legs.  
The heat of the sun left my skin and I felt a cool breeze hit. I heard a door close behind me.  
Okay, we were inside. Away from the Walkers. That was something.  
We walked for a few minutes without turning, down a hall was my guess.  
But then we stopped.  
I continued to wiggle in their grip, cursing them as they held on to me.  
They said nothing, they didn't move, just held on to me.  
"And what do we have here?" The deep voice cut through the silence, making me stop.  
Why was that voice so damn familiar?  
"Sir, this is one of the girls from the group that robbed your truck" the tall man spoke clearly.  
"Ah, well fucking shit. You managed to catch the sneaky little bitch." I could hear his footsteps get closer to me.  
"The others?" He asked. He was standing right in front of me now.  
"No, we couldn't find them. But she was the one who stole from you, Sir. We thought she might be priority. But she gave us one hell of a fight" his  
tone came out annoyed.  
"Yeah, I can see that by your bloody nose. No matter, extra points for the lot of you" he laughed and the men laughed as well.  
"Now, open my present. I wanna see what Grandma got me!" he teased.  
The man behind me jerked the bag off my head.  
I closed my eyes tightly as the bright lights hit.  
"Oh fucking hell..." the familiar voice said.  
I looked up, face to face with him.  
I blinked the spots away until my vision was clear.  
My eyes widened as I took in who was standing in front of me now.  
" _Negan?_ " I asked in disbelief.  
I was taking in his appearance.  
He wore a black leather jacket with a red scarf tucked into it, sporting a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.  
But for the most part, he didn't look too much different from when I had seen him last, back before the world ended.  
"Well, well, Elizabeth fucking Lane. What the good God Damn are you doing here?" he smirked, looking me over.  
He was different.  
The man I remembered was gentle, caring.  
 _This wasn't the man I knew.  
_ He had the same features, but he was unrecognizable.  
"Negan, what the hell is going on?" I questioned.  
But the man to my right twisted my arm hard, making me cry out.  
"You'll watch your fucking manners" the man on my right snarled.  
But Negan raised his gloved hand, waving him off.  
"Now boys, we don't hurt pretty ladies like that. Loosen up" his tone was casual.  
"Negan I.." I started again, but he swung the bat in front of my face.  
"We have a lot to talk about, doll. But not right now" he smirked, giving the grey haired man a look.  
With out even saying a word, they towed me backwards down the hall.  
They stopped at the end of the hall to open a door to a small room.  
They pushed me inside.  
Negan popped his head in.  
"I'll be back to deal with you later. Sit tight, doll" he laughed and closed the door.

 _ **R & R is always appreciated! I was so nervous and excited to start this story. I have loads of ideas for it and hope that you all enjoy!**_


	2. Chapter 2, Negan

"Those burgers smell amazing, Lizzie" Negan laughed, placing a hand on my shoulder.  
I rolled my eyes, "I slaved away until they met perfection" I returned.  
His strong hand on my shoulder made butterflies turn in my stomach, which was only made worse by him lightly squeezing my shoulder.  
I focused on putting the burgers onto a plate, instead of him touching me.  
Negan was tall, well built, dark hair. He was extremely smart and funny. He was the epitome of handsome and we all knew it.  
 _He knew it.  
_ He was kind and gentle, but definitely cocky.  
He knew exactly what he wanted and didn't stop until he got it.  
But the little moment was interrupted by her.  
 _Lucille.  
_ "Yes, Elizabeth. You have always been our little culinary genius" Lucille cooed.  
I hated that about her. She would always talk to me like a child.  
The woman was beautiful and elegant, the picture of perfection.  
Which is why she went well with Negan.  
But at times she just rubbed me the wrong way.  
Even so, we were all great friends.  
"Let's eat up then" Negan laughed, moving his hand from my shoulder to wrap his arm around his wife.  
My heart sank slightly, but I shook it off.  
I brought the burgers over to the table, setting them down in the middle of all the extra bits we had prepared.  
This was the last good time I had with Negan, before things became so confusing.  
Lucille became sick after that, and as hard as I tried, they pushed us away.  
I wanted to be there for them, but Negan wanted nothing more to do with us.  
I understood he wanted all the time he could get with her, even though I hated losing that time.  
But all of that was a tiny blimp compared to what happened weeks later, when the world fell.

I jolted awake.  
The loud tap on the door rang out three times, that's what woke me.  
Then he spoke,  
"Little Lizzie, you still there?" Negan called out.  
His tone made my stomach knot up.  
 _What the hell was wrong with him?  
_ I rubbed at my face as I sat up, my legs hanging off the side of the small cot.  
"Yeah, I'm here" I replied.  
The door slowly came open and Negan leaned against the door frame, that bat draped over his shoulder.  
He tilted his head, smirking at me.  
"God Damn, you haven't changed a bit, have ya?" He questioned, watching me closely.  
I stood, crossing my arms.  
"No. But you have.. What the hell is going on here?" I pushed.  
But he ignored me.  
He pushed off the door frame, "Come on, we'll talk in my room" he motioned for me to follow him.  
I walked out  
I followed him down the long hall and to a stairwell.  
We went up a bit before reaching another long hallway, this one having rooms on each side, scattered down.  
He led me to the last room at the end of the hall.  
"Welcome to my humble abode" he laughed as he opened to door.  
I stepped in.  
The room was large and well decorated.  
There were couches off to the left, they looked comfy.  
A glass coffee table was between them, with a few books setting on it.  
Beyond the couches were three large windows, with dark grey curtains hiding the outside.  
To the left was a bed.  
It was large, a fluffy, dark grey comforter was placed neatly on it.  
Pillows stacked up.  
This room made you immediately forget the hell that was going on outside.  
It seemed so untouched.  
Negan moved past me to sit on the couch.  
"Come, sit" he pointed to the couch across from him with the bat.  
I hesitated for a moment before sitting down.  
We sat in silence for a few minutes.  
This was his tactic, I'd seen it a few times before.  
He knew that silence, especially in tense situations, would bring anything out.  
But I didn't budge. I just sat, staring at him.  
He let out a groan, but smiled.  
"So 'lizzle', you stole from me. That's a capital crime here" he smirked, though his tone was serious.  
I scoffed, "The laws of this world died out a long time ago." I returned.  
He shifted where he sat, swinging the bat around in front of him.  
"My rules haven't died out. I take them seriously" he looked over the bat as he spoke.  
"Your rules?" I questioned, crossing my arms.  
He laughed. "Well, yeah. My Sanctuary, my rules"  
 _Sanctuary?  
_ I tilted my head, "I don't understand what's going on here.."  
Negan pointed the bat at me, hovering it inches in front of my face.  
"I can tell. But doll, you'll come to understand. This little place, it's mine. These people, are mine. Everything is mine and now.."  
He lowered the bat, giving me a sick smile. "You're mine too"  
I shook my head, but before I could say anything, he continued.  
"You know, on any other day, Lucille here would love to have beat the holy living shit out of ya, but we aren't feeling it today"  
My eyes widened as he spoke.  
" _Lucille?"_ I repeated.  
His smile wavered for a moment before he went back to smirking at me.  
"Yep. She's my pretty girl" he tilted his head back, pulling the bat across his lap.  
"Anyway, I feel like your skills could be put to good use for me. So that's why you're gonna stay here."  
Negan stood up, stepping over to the door.  
"Simon can show you back to your cell. Sorry, sweet cheeks, but you don't get a room until ya earn one"  
His tone was too casual.  
I stood up and walked over to him, closing in the distance.  
"Negan, what happened to you? To Lucille?" But as I asked, I could see that struck a nerve.  
His jaw clenched and his hand went to grip my shoulder, hard.  
"Nothing happened to me. You need to forget what you think you know about me or you're gonna get yourself killed around here"  
He threatened, ignoring the subject about his wife.  
His tone was harsh and it made me jump.  
I pulled away, out of his grasp.  
His serious look and tone faded away when he began laughing.  
He leaned back, "God Damn I wish you could have seen your face there!"  
I felt tears stinging in my eyes, but I wasn't going to let him see me cry.  
I looked away from him and opened the door.  
The tall man with grey hair was standing there.  
That must have been Simon.  
He smirked at me as well, mirroring Negans attitude.  
"Come on, buttercup. That's get you back to your cell" he laughed as he grabbed my arm, towing me down the hall.  
I struggled to keep up with him as we made our way back down the stairs.  
My feet felt heavy, like my boots were full of concrete.  
I couldn't process what all was going on.  
We finally reached the room I had been in before.  
Simon opened it for me and pushed me in.  
"Don't look so tough now" he laughed as I backed up in the cell.  
"I'll be back for you first thing in the morning and we can go over the rules and what you'll be doing here"  
Simon gave me a wink before closing up my door.  
I backed up more and my legs hit the cot, making me sit down on it.  
I let my head fall into my hands.  
All of this was too much to process and I felt dizzy trying to think about it all.  
The world I once knew, the man I once knew, was all dead and gone.  
This world, it was different.  
Maybe Negan was right, maybe I needed to forget anything I thought I knew.  
I moved to lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling of the dark room.  
I tried my best to sleep.  
After a while, I began to drift off.

But I just started to dream about him again.  
"Elizabeth!" Negans voice broke my concentration, making me smear paint over my canvas.  
"Fucking.." I huffed out, tossing my paint brush aside.  
I walked over to the door of my bedroom and opened it.  
Negan was leaning casually against the door frame, smiling brightly at me with a box in his hand.  
"Happy Birthday!" he cooed, pushing his way into my room.  
"I thought we weren't doing this.." I groaned, closing my door behind him.  
I lived with Negan and his wife and Lucinda, who was Lucille's sister.  
Lucinda was the first I met, at college.  
We were great friends.  
She's the one who introduced me to Lucille and Negan.  
We were a tight group from then on.  
"Oh come on, you'd kill me if I didn't do it" he laughed, offering me the box.  
I rolled my eyes at him and took it from his hands.  
The box was a pale blue with a matching blue bow wrapped around it.  
I carefully pulled the ribbon loose, setting it aside.  
I set the box down on my desk, pulling the lid off of it.  
Inside the box was a sketchpad, a new set of paint brushes and other drawing things.  
I smiled brightly, looking over to Negan who had now moved beside me.  
"I thought you needed some new brushes. You've been holding on to these for God know's how long"  
He laughed, gesturing to where I had just been painting.  
"Thank you, this really means a lot to me" I looked down.  
"Oh don't mention it, Elizabeth" He drew out my name to tease me.  
But when I looked back up to Negan, he was different.  
He looked like the Negan I knew now, with the bat over his shoulder.  
He tilted his head, raising the bat, "No, really, don't mention it" he threatened as he swung the bat towards me.

I woke with a start, sitting up as I struggled to catch my breath.  
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and sat forward, placing my head in my hands once again.  
Maybe forgetting and moving on wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.

 _ **R & R is always appreciated! I hope you all enjoy this story as much as I do! I'm so excited for it!**_


	3. Chapter 3, Prisoner

I woke with a bit of a groan.  
It took me a while to finally manage falling asleep with out thinking of him.  
But too soon came the sound of someone banging on my door.  
"Ya got ten minutes, princess. Then I'm coming back for you" Simon called out.  
I sat up, stretching my arms up before I swung my legs over the side of the cot.  
I let out a sigh, standing up to stretch further.  
I pulled my boots on and smoothed out my black tshirt, trying to make myself look slightly presentable.  
My door swung open and Simon stepped in,  
"Okay, princess. It's time to go" he dramatically motioned for me to follow.  
I rolled my eyes and met him out in the hall.  
He began the run down of the rules.  
Emphasizing how we are to obey Negan.  
He went on some long winded rant about how Negan saved them, built this place for them.  
I caught myself actually understanding why they were loyal, but only for a moment.  
"You work for points, you work hard and you reap the benefits"  
Simon explained as we made our way down the hall and back outside.  
He walked out towards the trucks.  
But I stayed, looking into the fence.  
It was a fence yard full of Walkers. That's what I heard yesterday.  
Simon came back over to me, "Ah, don't mind them" he said casually before leading me to the cars.  
"Negan wants you on a scavenging team. He feels that your skills will be better served for him instead of stealing from him"  
Simons tone was light and playful as he bounced around.  
He moved around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door.  
He pulled a book bag off the seat and tossed it to me.  
"This will be your issued pack. It has the bare essentials that you'll need for our trips."  
Simon motioned for me to get in.  
I walked around and climbed into the passengers seat just as Simon climbed into the drivers.  
"You're gonna be starting off with me, until we knew you understand the rules"  
Simon paused to start the car  
"But eventually, if you work hard enough, you can go out on your own or will smaller teams"  
He looked over to me with a small smile, as if he was excited for me.  
We pulled out of the compound, two other cars and a truck following behind us.  
I sat in silence, watching out the window as we drove.  
I was a prisoner who didn't feel exactly like a prisoner.  
Everything had happened to fast.  
Yesterday when I woke up, I was laughing with Marcus and Elaina.  
 _God I missed them._  
Now I was here, becoming increasingly more aware of my situation.  
"Why can't I just go home? I'll get the supplies I stole and bring them back" I offered up to Simon.  
But he just laughed at me.  
"That's not how things work, princess. You _stole_ from us, from Negan. You are to made an example of, but your skills are too valuable. You're too valuable to just let go." Again, his tone was so casual.  
He spoke like that was the way things had always been.  
"I don't owe Negan a damn thing"  
My tone was harsh, not because he was keeping me locked up, but because he used to be my bestfriend.  
Simon just shook his head, "You'll learn that _you do owe him_ "  
I let out a groan and crossed my arms, looking out the window once again.  
We sat in silence until the car stopped.  
I looked around at where we were.  
A parking lot of some old store that had been lost to the time.  
I noted the broken windows and random things strewn across the parking lot.  
"You're wasting time here" I mumbled.  
If I was gonna be forced to do this, we were gonna do it right.  
Simon looked over at me, "What was that?"  
I sat up a bit, "We're wasting time here. You can tell the place has been looted already"  
Simon looked around, now realizing that I was right.  
"We usually just search any and everything.." he mumbled to himself.  
He rolled down his window, calling out to his men that were already starting to get out.  
"Hold up, we aren't stopping here." He called to them.  
"Where do you suggest we go then, princess?" He questioned as he turned back to me.  
"You got a map?" I asked casually, I was now the one in control.  
Simon leaned over and pulled a map out of his bag, handing it to me.  
I leaned forward, spreading it out on the dash.  
"These are heavily populated areas around the highway, when this thing hit, most people fled to the highway"  
I paused and ran my finger up it,  
"When people got stuck there, they traveled into the populated areas. It made the most sense to them at the time."  
I pulled the map in closer, pointing to where we were.  
"This area is right off the main highway, this place was probably looted first thing. We need to travel east."  
I offered the map to Simon to look over,  
"Those rural areas are the best to hit. Mostly everyone evacuated in the beginning, but after no one thought to go back. You're going to have lots of farm houses that were probably well stocked for winters, you'll have family owned pharmacies with lots of medicine and that's a lot of hunting ground, so probably lots of weapons in those areas" I spoke casually, as if it was common knowledge.  
"Well hell, Negan was right to put you on this team" he laughed.  
Simon looked over the map once more before we headed out.  
We drove for a few hours before getting into a more rural area.  
The houses started to get further apart.  
"We need to split up to cover more ground. This road ends just a mile out. I wager there are about five farm houses to hit" I looked to Simon.  
So he pulled off to the side of the road, instructing his men on the plan.  
I got out of the car, pulling my bag on.  
"And where do you think you're going?" Simon questioned.  
"I'm going to check this house out first. It's backed up to this little ridge, that's prime hunting land and the most promising of the bunch"  
I started off up the gravel driveway.  
"Okay, so let's drive up there" he pressed.  
"No, like I said, this house is promising. If anyone is held up in there, they will see us in the car and we lose the element of surprise. We'll use the trees as cover and go in quietly." I was now giving him instructions.  
Which he didn't like. But again, he knew I was right.  
He grabbed his bag and started to follow me.  
We veered off to the left into the trees.  
As we walked, I thought about my friends and our scavenging trips together and I got lost in my thoughts.

"Elizabeth, you're a genius!" Elaina cooed as we began loading boxes full of medical supplies into the back of our truck.  
"I don't know, I'd argue that maybe she was a thief before" Marcus teased.  
I shook my head, smiling at them.  
"You just have to be smart about it, think tactically" I returned.  
"Well, I tactically think you're a genius" Elaina laughed as she placed the last box in the truck.  
Marcus walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her cheek, "Thief" he repeated as he kissed her again.  
That was Marcus, always having the last say.  
"We should get back, it will be dark soon" I warned, feeling guilty for breaking up their little moment.  
Those intimate moments were rare now a days.  
Even if it made my heart ache at watching Marcus with Elaina, I still wanted her to be happy.  
"I got shot gun!" Elaina laughed as she pulled away from Marcus, moving around to get in the truck.  
Marcus shook his head and looked to me.  
"Nope, I'm driving. I'm the only one who knows the way back" I smirked.  
Marcus rolled his eyes and climbed into the bed of the truck.  
I slid into the drivers seat and started the truck, taking us back to camp.

"What now?" Simon's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.  
We were close to the house now.  
I looked around, looking for any signs of life.  
"The gravel is even, means if anyone is here, they don't have a vehicle"  
I noted and kept looking.  
"None of the windows are boarded up, no crops growing, the front door looks cracked. I'd say either it's empty or the person living here is incredibly stupid. Either way, it's probably safe for us" I looked to Simon who just simply nodded.  
I let out a sigh, "What, now you're letting me do all the work?" I asked.  
He smirked, "I'm amazed by you, I'll admit. You keeping working this hard and you'll be Negans right hand lady"  
Simon laughed before continuing, "but not under me of course"  
I rolled my eyes again, "You take the back, I'll take the front. Since we know it's clear of the living, we make some noise outside to draw out any walkers. We don't wanna be surprised by them inside" I instructed before heading around the front of the house.  
I knocked on the windows as I walked around.  
Banging my boots against the steps of the porch to make extra noise.  
I waited, but heard nothing. "We're all clear!" I called out to Simon.  
I swung my bag around and pulled my knife from it, just in case.  
I pushed the front door open and looked around one more time, just to be safe.  
First I took a look downstairs, rummaging in closets for anything useful.  
Simon was stepping so heavy footed, "I'm glad we're not trying to be sneaky. I can hear you all the way back at the road"  
I called out to him.  
He just laughed in return.  
I made my way upstairs to check the bedrooms. We found a few small things that could be used, but nothing excited.  
We met back up downstairs.  
"Well, seems your skills aren't that great, princess" Simon smirked.  
"We aren't done yet" I pointed out as I motioned to the back door.  
I let him follow me out into the back yard.  
Up near the house was a pair of wooden doors that led to down to a tornado shelter.  
The doors were locked with a padlock, so it had obviously been untouched.  
"Can you take care of that?" I asked, looking to Simon who seemed annoyed.  
After a few minutes, he had the lock broken.  
He pulled the doors open and we climbed down.  
Simon pulled a flashlight from his bag and turned it on.  
The small shelter was stocked with boxes of food and water.  
"Impressive I suppose.." he started.  
I rolled my eyes and pulled the flashlight out of his hand.  
I stepped further into the little shelter and shined the light on the back wall that was stocked full of different guns and ammo.  
I looked to Simon, "Impressive I know" I teased.  
He nodded, "Yeah I'll get the car"  
It took us about an hour to get things packed into the truck.  
We had filled our car up fairly quickly, so we brought the truck out for the rest.  
The other men had pretty nice hauls as well.  
I walked over to the truck, "I'm riding here. You can get us back, right?" I asked.  
Now Simon was the one to roll his eyes at me, "Yeah. I can"  
I climbed into the back of the truck, settling down next to the huge stock of guns we found.

The sun was starting to go down when we got back.  
We were pulling into the compound, the truck I was in was in the back of the line.  
Negan was standing there, waiting for us. A man with messy blonde hair and a scarred face was standing beside him.  
We pulled up in a line and Negan went to the first car, to talk to Simon.  
The other man walked to the back of the line.  
As he walked around, he looked up at me, giving me a sympathetic look.  
He started to speak to me, but was distracted by the bed full of guns.  
His eyes widened a bit and he stepped back.  
"You're gonna wanna see this..." He called out to Negan.  
Negan swung the bat over his shoulder and walked over.  
"Well, hot diggity dog! This is the kind of thing that tickles my balls" He laughed, leaning back.  
He looked up to me, tilting his head.  
"You know, Simon said you did good. But I gotta be honest, I underestimated you, kid" he smirked.  
I hated how he talked to me, but I kept my mouth shut.  
I carefully climbed out of the truck, walking over to him.  
"How many points does this earn me?" I mocked.  
He grinned down at me and I felt all of my attitude melt away.  
He had a genuine smile  
 _And God he was handsome.  
_ I took a step back.  
"We'll talk about your points later, doll. For now, help the rest of them unload the trucks"  
He turned away from me and went back to Simon.  
I shook off the thoughts I had and went to help Simon and the team unload.  
"You're Elizabeth?" The blonde guy from before asked, walking up to me after we had finished unloading everything.  
I looked him over, "Yeah. I am"  
"I'm Dwight, just wanted to introduce myself. That's all.." He trailed off, holding out his hand.  
I looked at him confused for a moment, but took his hand and shook it.  
He left a small note in my hand and walked away.  
I watched curiously as he walked away.  
I turned away and unfolded the note.  
" _I'm sorry you're here. I saw your friends, they are safe. Be careful"_ was scribbled on the note.  
I quickly tucked the note deep into my pocket and turned around, but he was gone.  
Elaina and Marcus were safe and that's all that mattered to me in the moment.  
Even if it meant I was a prisoner here.

 _ **R & R is always appreciated! I hope that you are all enjoying this story! :)**_


	4. Chapter 4

I had been at the sanctuary for about a week now.  
I had fallen into a pretty decent routine.  
We went scavenging every morning and I worked my ass off for them.  
I think Simon was beginning to take a liking to me, he even let me lead the group one morning.  
But even after all my hard work and all the supplies I produced, I was still kept in this cell.  
Negan didn't believe that I quite understood the rules or his system yet.  
But I think it was just because he wasn't exactly sure what to do with me.  
I did have more freedom than when I first got here though.  
I used that time to try and talk to Dwight, but he did a good job of dodging me.  
Anytime I actually saw him, he was right by Negan.  
All the other times, he was nowhere to be found.  
But I would try again today.  
I knew that I wasn't going to get anywhere with Negan.  
He didn't talk about the past, he just kept a casual attitude about most things.  
Which kind of pissed me off.  
Just as I had told Simon, I didn't owe him anything.  
 _But he owed me._ At least, _some_ sort of a decent explanation.  
I was sliding on my boots as I mulled it over.  
It was almost time for Simon to come get me, but he didn't.  
I waited around for about twenty minutes before I started pacing.  
I paced across the floor of the cell for about thirty more minutes before my cell door opened.  
It wasn't Simon, it was another man.  
 _A boy really._  
He looked younger than I was, with short brown hair.  
He gave me a bright smile.  
"Hi, I'm Kyle. Simon sent me to let you out for the day" he bounced around happily.  
I watched him closely, wary of what was really going on.  
"We aren't going out today?" I asked, tilting my head.  
He shook his head, keeping a boyish smile.  
"No, Simon said that he and the boys had to take care of some business with Negan, so they are gonna be out today"  
He explained as he backed out of the way to let me out.  
I walked out into the hall, but turned back to face him as he closed the door to my cell.  
"Business? What kind?" I inquired.  
"Well, I'm not sure exactly. Some kind of run in with another group" He said casually.  
But my heart sank.  
 _Another group?  
Elaina, Marcus..  
_I felt sick to my stomach as I thought about Negan finding them.  
"Kyle, have they left yet?" I asked quickly, placing my hands on his shoulders.  
He stumbled back, as if he was scared of me.  
"I uh, no. They are loading up the trucks now." He muttered.  
"Perfect" I mumbled before taking off down the hallway.  
I rounded the corner and ran to the door at the end of the hall, hitting it a bit hard as it swung open.  
The last of the men were loading into the trucks, heavily armed.  
I looked down to see Negan at the front, getting in.  
Dwight was on the other side of the truck and seemed to be the only one who noticed me.  
I started to walk forward but he shook his head, giving me a look.  
"About how many miles we got?" He called to Simon who was in the truck behind them.  
"About forty or so" Simon returned.  
I let out a sigh of relief.  
It wasn't them. Our group wasn't that far from where we were now.  
 _That was Dwights way of letting me know my friends were still safe._  
 _But why was he looking out for me?_  
I backed up to the door and quickly sank back into the building before anyone noticed me.  
I had free range for the day, but I wasn't gonna push my luck.  
I decided to check out the store that was set up.  
Simon had explained how the points system worked plenty of times, but I wanted to see for myself.  
The area was well populated.  
Everyone was moving about, talking, _laughing.  
They seemed so happy here._  
I walked up to the lady who was sitting at the desk at the front of the makeshift store.  
She smiled warmly at me.  
"What can I do for you, Darlin' ?" she asked with a thick southern accent.  
I rubbed at the back of my neck, "Oh I'm just looking.." I started.  
She nodded, "You're new. It's okay. Have a look and if you need anything, let me know"  
She was too kind for this place.  
I walked past the desk to the little area set up behind her.  
There were shelves filled with stuff, and boy was it a mess.  
It drove me nuts looking at it and I wondered if I would get in trouble for arranging stuff.  
She must have sensed my annoyance,  
"It's a mess, I know. I asked the boys to clean it up back here, but they don't listen. I've gotten a bit too old and frail to move the big stuff or reach the things on the top shelf.." she began, shaking her head.  
"I don't mind doing it" I offered with a slight smile.  
She shook her head, "I can't offer you nothin' for it, darlin'" she seemed sad.  
I tilted my head, "No, you don't need to give me anything. I don't mind helping out"  
She mulled it over for a moment, "Alright, darlin'. If you really want to.."  
I nodded quickly.  
"I'm Beth-Anne, by the way. You're Elizabeth, right?" she asked.  
 _How did everyone know who I was?_  
"Yes, I am. It's nice to meet you." I replied with a warm smile to match hers.  
She just nodded and sat back down.  
I began to pull everything off the shelves to organize them.  
Deciding that, before I put everything up, I would dust off the shelves.  
I put all the books, magazines, etc. together. I moved on to small necessities, like toiletries and makeup and such.  
I moved all the miscellaneous things into a more organized system.  
The store now had more room.  
 _More room for the stuff I brought it._  
I thought to myself. It made me laugh.  
Once I was finished, I let out a content sigh. Looking over my work one more time.  
 _This made me miss Elaina.  
_  
"Elaina, seriously. This isn't right" I whined as I watched her stacking up cans of food randomly.  
She looked back at me, shrugging her shoulders.  
"It's all canned food, it's all the same." she said with a shrug.  
I shook my head, "Get down, I'll take care of it" I sighed.  
She laughed at me, stepping down off the step ladder.  
We had a huge basement under the building we were held up in.  
It had plenty of storage space and we tried our best to keep it well stocked.  
That didn't mean everything had to be in a mess.  
I stepped up on the step ladder and began moving around the cans of food.  
"So I was thinking about something.." Elaina began, shifting around.  
"What is it?" I asked casually, not looking away from my work.  
"I think I want to have a baby.." she blurted out.  
I dropped about three cans of food, they rolled to her feet.  
"You what?" I questioned, turning to look at her.  
She shrugged, looking up at me as she handed me the cans back.  
"I think we have a good thing here. We're safe here and well stocked.." she looked down.  
I set the cans down and came off the ladder.  
"Elaina, I don't know. Have you talked to Marcus about it?" I questioned.  
She nodded, "Yeah, he's really excited about the idea." she looked up at me and smiled.  
That made me feel sick to my stomach.  
I had come to terms with the fact that Marcus loved her, but it still stung.  
Now the idea of them starting a family together seemed to just pour salt into the wound.  
"I don't know when. But it's just something we have been thinking about. I wanted to see what you thought?"  
She reached out to place her hand on my arm.  
I placed my hand over hers, squeezing it.  
"It's not really up to me, Elaina. But if it's what you want, you know that I'll support you"  
I tried my best to smile at her.  
"Hey, you're gonna be the God Mother, you know that?" she teased, playfully nudging me.  
That made me smile.  
"Well of course, I wouldn't let you have it any other way" I teased.

"Did you find anything you'd like?" Beth-Anne's voice startled me away from my thoughts.  
I spun around to face her.  
"Uh yeah, I'd like this book, if that's okay?" I asked, grabbing it off the shelf.  
It had a blank cover and seemed kind of old and worn, it peaked my curiosity.  
She smiled and took it from my hands, nodding.  
"Yes, of course." she replied and we walked back over to her desk.  
I walked around in front of her, watching her.  
She pulled out a binder, flipping through a few pages until she found my name.  
She scribbled something down beside it and closed the binder.  
"You're all set" she said happily, handing me the book.  
"Thanks" I smiled down at her and took the book, making my way back towards the hallways.  
I knew the building had a library set up, but I didn't wanna read there.  
It was a slower day, so it was most likely full of people who were finished working.  
I just wanted to be alone.  
I climbed the little set of stairs and made my way back towards my cell.  
My door was still locked and I wasn't sure where Kyle had gone off to.  
So I just sat by the door.  
I read for a little while before I ended up dozing off.

I jerked away when I felt someone kick my boot.  
"Rise and shine, Lizzie" Negan cooed.  
He was kneeling down beside me, just inches from my face.  
I blushed a bit at being caught.  
"Whatcha got there?" He gestured to the book in my lap.  
I quickly closed it.  
He smirked, "Aww, is it something dirty?" he teased, leaning in closer to me.  
I sat up, trying my best to back away from him.  
He laughed, the sound echoing in the hallway.  
"Ah I'm just messin' with ya!" he moved back and stood up.  
I tucked the book under my arm and stood.  
"You waited by your cell like a good little girl, didn't ya?" he drew his words out to torment me.  
I broke my gaze away from him, which only amused him more.  
"I was gonna put you back in it, but I'm feeling generous."  
He began to pace around in front of me  
"You waited so patiently for me to get home. Plus I heard you cleaned up my store for me"  
He stopped moving and returned his gaze at me.  
He stepped over closer, making me step back until he had me pinned against the wall.  
He placed his hand beside my head, leaning forward.  
His face was just inches from mine.  
"Trying to impress me with all this hard work, doll? Cause I gotta say, it's working"  
his tone was soft, but I felt like his eyes were going to burn a hole in my soul.  
"I'm just pulling my load. If I have to be here, I'm gonna make it count. Isn't that your motto?"  
I pushed, keeping my eyes locked with his.  
I wasn't gonna back down and cower away from him.  
Maybe if I was some other girl, who barely knew him.  
 _But I did know him._  
He gave me a bit of a frown, " _Get._ You _get_ to be here. Not have to" he corrected.  
It sure as hell felt like I had to, but I wasn't gonna press it.  
"Now, back to my point. You _have_ been working so hard for me. It's time you reap the benefits. I had a room set up for you and I think you're really gonna love it" his tone was teasing, but the look in his eyes hinted at something more serious.  
He backed off of me and motioned down the hall.  
I followed him to the staircase that led to the level with the bedrooms.  
I expected him to stop on the second of third, but no.  
We walked on a little more before stopping and walking into one of the halls.  
 _His room was on this floor._  
We walked down the hall to the middle and he stopped, motion to the room on our right.  
"Ladies first" he cooed.  
I looked up to him for a moment before slowly opening the door.  
The room was a decent size.  
It had a bed on the left, and though it was small, it looked so inviting.  
Beyond that, on the back wall, was a little counter area.  
A sink, microwave and a few extra cooking things were placed neatly on it.  
There was even a small door for a closet and one for a small bathroom.  
 _Only this floor had private bathrooms._  
To the right was a sitting area.  
There were a few shelves on the wall with books and then there it was.  
 _By the window was a paint set._  
A blank canvas was set on the isle, a few extra canvases were stacked against the wall.  
A small table was set to the side of it with paint, brushes and a few extra bits.  
My eyes widening as I took it all in.  
I jumped when I felt Negan's warm hands grip my shoulders.  
He leaned in close, his breath tickling my ear.  
It made me shiver slightly.  
"Maybe we don't have to forget everything that happened" he spoke softly.  
Like he was trying to keep it secret.  
He only let the intimate moment linger for a few seconds before he squeezed my shoulders.  
"Well, buttercup. What do ya think?" he asked rather loudly, leaning back.  
I turned to him and couldn't help but smile.  
"It's perfect, really.." I looked up at him.  
He smirked, "This is why I force the rules. You do good, you work hard, you get the fucking benefits"  
I nodded to him, as if I was starting to understand.  
Even if I still didn't understand him.  
I turned away and walked over to the canvas, running my fingers over it.  
"I'll leave ya to it then, pumpkin'. But don't stay up too late, cause tomorrow is gonna be a big day!"  
His laughter filled my small room and I found it oddly comforting.  
He left my room, closing the door a bit hard behind him.  
I was left to my thoughts once again.  
I set the book I had purchased down on the shelf and smiled.  
Everything was neat and clean.  
I walked into the small bathroom and flipped on the light.  
 _Thank God for actual power and running water._ I thought to myself.  
I looked at myself in the mirror.  
It was odd, I hadn't really stopped to look at myself and I was almost unrecognizable.  
My long red hair was messy.  
 _I'll visit Beth-Anne soon and buy a brush._ I decided.  
I leaned in closer to the mirror, looking over my face.  
I gently touched my cheeks.  
My freckles had popped out a bit from being in the sun.  
I looked good. Not in a narcissistic way, but I looked healthy.  
I wasn't starving, I wasn't running. I didn't immediately fear for my life, at least not because of the Walkers.  
 _Maybe things could be good here._

 ** _R & R is always appreciated! I'm so excited for this story and writing more on Negan. (I dunno, it makes me emotional?) Anyway, I hope that you are all enjoying this story!_**


	5. Chapter 5

"Elizabeth?" Dwight called out as he knocked.  
I sat up a bit quickly, startled by him.  
This was my first morning waking up in my new room, so it took me a minute to adjust.  
"Yeah, comin'" I called out as I stood up and walked over to open the door.  
"You need to get dressed and come with me" He said quietly, his face sad.  
Dwight always had a worried expression, but this was worse.  
"What's going on?" I asked.  
But he just shook his head, "Don't ask questions. Just get ready, I'll be waiting out here"  
He pulled my door shut.  
I felt a bit sick to my stomach at what could be wrong.  
I let out a sigh and quickly changed my clothes.  
I walked into the bathroom and splashed some cool water on my face.  
After that I pulled on my boots and went back to the door.  
Dwight didn't say anything, he just started walking down the hall.  
I hesitated at first, but started to follow him towards the stairwell.  
He never said anything and once we got to the bottom of the stairwell, Negan was waiting for us.  
"Well hot damn! She is alive!" he laughed, placing a hand roughly down on Dwights shoulder.  
He stepped in closer to me, smirking.  
"Today is gonna be a big day. You've gotten to see the rules and the benefits. I think you need to see the punishments now" he laughed.  
"Don't worry, Dwighty boy here is gonna take care of ya" he turned and walked out to the hall, Dwight followed him and I fell in behind Dwight.  
We were heading to the door that led out to the trucks.  
To the right were stairs that led down into the common area where most of the people were.  
Negan stepped over to the ledge that overlooked them.  
The room went silent and everyone kneeled to him.  
 _It was odd to me._  
I had seem him either alone or around his top men, but never seen how the other people reacted to him.  
"The Saviors have gone out into the world and fought the dead and come back with some really good shit" he paused, looking back at me and smirking.  
"Some of that stuff can be yours. If you work hard and play by the rules. Today, everyone gets fresh vegetables at dinner, no points needed!" he laughed.  
Everyone in the room began to cheer and clap.  
Once they settled down, he continued  
"However, we have some business to take care of. Someone here, hasn't been playing by the rules. And we all know what that means!" he turned and walked towards the stairs, walking down to where everyone was.  
"On your feet!" he called and people started to crowd around where he was now standing.  
I went down with Dwight, but he stopped me towards the back of the group.  
 _Then I saw it._  
There were two men, one man was tied to a chair, the other was kneeling with a black bag over his head.  
They were both in front of a large furnace that was hosting a roaring fire.  
The man who was tied to the chair was shaking, _he knew what was about to happen._  
Negan turned and handed his bat off to Simon.  
"You know the deal.. What's about to happen is gonna be hard to watch. I don't wanna do it, I wish that I could just ignore the rules and let it slide. But I can't..why?" he asked.  
Everyone in the room clearly replied, "The rules keep us alive!"  
"That, is, right!" he put emphasis on each word.  
"We survive, we provide security to others. We bring civilization back to this world! We are the Saviors!" he said proudly and then began to circle the man,  
"But we can't do it with out rules. Rules are what make it all work. I know it's not easy. There is always work, there is always a cost!" his voice was starting to get louder.  
"But if you try to skirt it, if you try to cut that corner!" his voice echoed.  
But he began to laugh, "Well then it is the iron for you" he said so matter-of-factly.  
Negan stepped over to Simon, giving him a nod as he began sliding on some gloves.  
"Sammy, oh Sammy boy" he sighed as he stepped back over to the man in the chair.  
Simon pulled a red hot iron from the fire, offering it to Negan.  
He carefully took it off the hook.  
"I'm sorry, but it is what it is.." he sighed.  
He waited, almost as if he was giving him a moment to prepare.  
But then he stepped over and pressed the iron to his face.  
The man began to scream and I covered my mouth, backing up.  
Dwight took a hold of my arm, holding me in place.  
I felt sick to my stomach.  
The screams soon stopped as the man passed out.  
Negan pulled the iron away and handed it back to Simon.  
"Well look at that, ah Jesus he pissed himself" Negan laughed.  
He stepped over to one of the workers who was standing there with a mop.  
He wore a dirty sweatshirt with an "A" painted on the front.  
He leaned in close, "You're gonna clean this up" he instructed.  
The man looked up and locked eyes with me only for a moment before doing what he was told.  
Negan backed up, "Alright Doc, I'm all finished. You can do your thing"  
A man in a white coat stepped forward, looking over the unconscious man.  
Two of Negans men grabbed him out of the chair and the Doctor led them away.  
"Well, the pussy passed out. But it's settled, we're square. Everything is good! Now, let Samuel's face be a daily reminder to him and to everyone else that the rules matter! I hope that we all learned something today, because I don't ever want to have to do that again!"  
Negan turned away from the crowd of people and walked over to me, leaning in close.  
"That was some pretty crazy shit, right? You probably think that I'm a lunatic, huh?" he laughed.  
He turned back to the crowd of workers.  
"It's been a long morning, I want my workers to leave and have a relaxing day. Reflect on what has happened here!" he called out happily.  
All of the workers began to leave except Negans men.  
I started to walk away too, but Dwight grabbed my arm again.  
"He wants you to stay for the whole thing.." Dwight mumbled sadly.  
We stayed at the back of the group of his men.  
They were now all circled around the man who was kneeling.  
"Now, onto more pressing business. Simon here.." he paused, looking to Simon who handed him his bat again.  
"Caught this stupid little bastard snooping around my shit! Not only that, he killed two of my men!" he pulled the bag off the mans head.  
I stumbled back, recognizing the boy.  
" _Patrick?"_ I gasped.  
Dwight pulled me back a little, turning away from the men and leaning close in.  
"I know this is hard, but you need to keep your mouth shut. Negan doesn't need to know that you know him. He doesn't know the boy belongs to a group, to your group." Dwight whispered quickly.  
He turned back and stepped in front of me.  
Patrick began to look around at the men who were staring at him.  
"Please.. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." he started to plead as he sobbed.  
Negan just laughed, raising the bat over his head.  
"Sorry just ain't gonna cut it, kid." he threatened.  
Patrick started to cry out louder, "Please, I'm so sorry, I made a mistake.." but his words were cut off when Negan came down with the bat, right on the top of his head.  
Patrick fell forward. _That was it, he was dead._  
"Holy hell that felt good! Little more just to be sure" he laughed and started to hit Patrick's lifeless body again and again.  
The men all laughed and cheered.  
I stumbled back, feeling light headed. I was sure I was gonna pass out.  
Dwight moved and put his arm around me, pulling me in close.  
"Come on" he spoke softly as he led me away.  
We walked up the stairs and around the corner to the stairwell.  
Once the door closed behind us, I pushed him away.  
He sighed, "I'm sorry. But you needed to keep quiet to keep your other friends safe. Right now Negan isn't pursuing them, let's keep it that way." he was trying to reassure me.  
I nodded, "I know" I said quietly.  
He started to pull me close again, but I pushed him back.  
"I'm fine." I protested and started my way up the stairs.  
Once I was in the hallway, I ran to my room.  
I slammed the door behind me and fell back against it.  
I slowly slid down it until I hit the floor, pulling my legs up to my chest, I allowed myself to cry.  
I thought this place would be okay, I thought it would be good.  
But I just watched my friend be murdered by someone I once trusted.  
 _Someone that I once loved._  
I tried to push any thoughts of him or of what happened away.  
After a few minutes, I stood and went to crawl into my bed.

 _But I dreamt of him._  
I smiled as I moved my paint brush over the canvas.  
Today was a quiet day, Lucille and Lucinda were out to lunch.  
I was at the house alone with Negan.  
The past few weeks had been odd.  
We barely spoke and he had trouble keeping eye contact with me.  
Lucille was a great friend, but I was closer now with Negan.  
We just understood each other.  
I knew that Negan wasn't one to easily open up about anything, but I could tell something was up. I could read it all over his face.  
The knock at my door made me jump.  
"Come in" I answered.  
And Negan came through my door, closing it behind him.  
He walked over, looking at what I was doing over my shoulder.  
"Back at it?" he teased.  
"Always" I replied, laughing.  
But he stayed silent and I knew something was up.  
I set my brush down and grabbed a rag, wiping my hands off as I turned to face him.  
"What's wrong?" I asked, looking him over as I tossed the rag to the side.  
"I'm tired of lying. I don't like liars.." he began.  
My heart sank a bit.  
I knew how I felt for him, though I made extreme effort not to make it obvious.  
But at times, he did.  
 _I knew he felt it too._  
"I can't lie to myself anymore, Lizzie. I can't lie to you.." he shook his head, stepping in closer to me.  
"About what?" I looked up at him, he moved his hand to brush my hair out of my face.  
"About us.." he whispered and leaned in, softly pressing his lips to mine.  
The kiss was soft and gentle, though I felt as if every nerve in my body was on fire.  
He only let the kiss linger for a moment before pulling away.

I woke with a start after that dream.  
It was a memory I liked holding on to, especially after I thought I lost him.  
But now, it felt like a nightmare.  
 _He wasn't that man anymore._  
That's what I hated most about everything.  
I sat up, moving to the side of the bed.  
I sat with my head in my hands for awhile.  
But didn't get peace for very long.  
Someone was knocking on my door once again.  
I let out a sigh and went over to open it.  
Negan was standing there, already smirking.  
I started to close the door on him, but he caught it. Forcing his way in.  
"Now, now, Doll. Where are your manners?" he laughed.  
I shook my head,  
 _Was he serious? After all he had done, he was here acting so casual?_  
"You made me watch you kill.." I started to give myself away and quickly caught it.  
"That poor boy and now you're here expecting me to jump for joy?" I pressed.  
He smiled brighter, "Of course, doll. You had to see what happens when someone crosses me" his tone was almost threatening.  
I looked up at him with disgust and that must have struck a nerve.  
He reached up, roughly grabbing my chin.  
"Be careful how you're looking at me right now, Elizabeth. You're lucky to be here, you're lucky that wasn't you" he spoke angrily.  
He let go of my chin and the smile returned.  
"Everyone here has seen some hard shit. I just wanted to make sure you weren't too comfortable with how I have been spoiling you." he laughed.  
I backed away from him.  
"I'm having a little dinner party for my wives.." he started.  
"Wives?" I repeated, feeling my stomach knot up with a tinge of jealousy.  
He laughed at my reaction, "Aww, is someone jealous? Don't worry, I wanted to see if you'd like to join us?" he winked.  
I crossed my arms.  
"Like hell I will" I looked away from him.  
"Oh you will, eventually." he said confidently.  
He walked back to my door and opened it, "I figured you'd say no. But I wanted you to know that I really wanted you there" He was mocking me.  
"Well thanks for the offer, but I have to be up early to gather more shit for you" I was trying to be just as mocking.  
But he smiled brighter, "That's my girl."

 _ **R & R is always appreciated! I'm loving building up the relationship between Elizabeth and Negan, especially with what's happened in the past. I hope that you are all enjoying it too! :)**_


	6. Chapter 6

"No, Marcus! No!" Elaina called out as he dragged her back up the hill, away from the men who were now carrying Elizabeth away.  
"We can't leave her!" She protested, breaking out of his grip that was now loosened on her, since they were out of sight.  
"Elaina.." His voice was soft as he sighed her name.  
"We don't have a choice baby.." His voice trailed off.  
She looked at him with a hint of disgust that he would even think of leaving Elizabeth behind.  
She began to blink away her tears, her voice cracking, "She's my best friend" she looked up to him, searching for any sign that he would take her hand and go running after Elizabeth.  
But Marcus didn't budge.  
He took Elaina's hand, tugging at her.  
"Please Elaina, we need to get out of here" his voice stayed too calm.  
It was almost sickening.  
Elaina jerked her hand away from him, pushing past him as they started their trek back to their camp.  
They would have to walk, having ditched the car.  
It was just too risky to go back to it.

"Rose!" The boy who was guarding the gate called out, "They are home!" He said excitedly as he pulled the gates open.  
He started down the ladder of his post, and hopped off towards the bottom.  
The brown haired woman, Rose, stepped up beside him.  
But they both stopped when they looked over Marcus and Elaina.  
"Where is she?" The boy asked.  
Elaina looked over to Marcus, tilting her head.  
He sighed, feeling her eyes on him.  
"We got attacked by those men. They took her" Marcus spoke quietly, not really wanting to have this conversation in front of Joseph.  
" _They took her?"_ Joseph repeated, looking up to Rose as his eyes started to fill with tears.  
Rose shook her head, looking between Marcus and Elaina.  
"What do you mean they took her?" Rose asked, stepping closer to them.  
"The men we have been seeing around, they took her away with them." He repeated, shifting around.  
"She sent us away, she was trying to save us.." Elaina spoke up, softening the tension on Marcus. She knew that he was trying to protect her.  
Rose let out a long sigh and turned to Joseph, placing her hands on his cheeks.  
He looked up to her, still crying.  
 _The boy was only about fifteen. He came to the camp shortly after Elizabeth and Marcus. He had gotten close to Elizabeth, they were joined at the hip._  
"Listen, I need you to go back to your post." She spoke softly.  
Joseph shook his head, "No. I wanna go looking for her" he protested.  
Rose tilted her head, giving him a look. "It's dark. It's too dangerous. We will go at first light and you can go with us. If you listen to me" Rose looked him over, judging his reaction.  
He hesitated, but nodded slowly.  
He stepped forward and hugged Elaina tightly before turning and returning to his post.

Rose walked with Marcus and Elaina into the building they had taken over. It was some sort of shipping facility long before the world ended, they managed to build a life here.  
"Did you see where they were headed?" Rose asked as she sat down with them.  
"No, we just got out of there. We, couldn't risk getting caught.." Marcus looked to Elaina.  
Rose looked between them both, tilting her head.  
"Elaina is pregnant" Marcus blurted out.  
Rose smiled brightly, but only for a moment.  
"We don't have a doctor here.." She looked to Elaina who nodded slowly.  
"We will figure it out. I'm just worried about Elizabeth" she insisted.  
Rose looked to Marcus who nodded in agreement.  
"Okay fine, we will take a team and go out at first light and see what we can find.

 _They searched for days with no real luck. Any lead they had just came up empty or too messy to try and explore. The search itself became too dangerous and that's how they lost Patrick._

"Stop looking at me like you're giving up!" Elaina snapped at Marcus as he tried to get her to calm down.  
They had been searching for days with no luck.  
 _They had no idea how close she really was to them._  
"The only place we haven't looked is to the east. She could be there!" Elaina snapped again.  
Marcus let out a sigh, "Elaina, we have to be smart about this.." as Marcus spoke, the door flew open and Joseph came in, carrying his pack.  
"We ready to go?" The boy asked  
"Yes. We are" Elaina said as she shot Marcus a look  
He shook his head and stood, grabbing his pack.  
He followed them out to one of their cars, not really able to get a word in.  
This was dangerous, they were rushing.  
But at least Marcus would be there to protect them if anything happened.

They weren't on the road long before they came to a block in the highway.  
A few rows of cars were lined up, blocking the road entirely.  
Marcus pulled close and stopped, letting out a sigh.  
"This isn't right.." he said quietly.  
"Someone placed these cars here recently." he added.  
But still, Elaina climbed out of the car and Joseph followed.  
Marcus let out a groan and followed them out of the car.  
They searched the rows of cars for a while, looking for any easy supplies to pick up.  
But they were all completely empty.  
"We should go... we can find another way around" Marcus insisted  
But they heard the rumble of a motorcycle just as it began over the hill towards them.  
Marcus stepped in front of Elaina and Joseph, pushing them back a little.  
The man on the motorcycle was Dwight  
He pulled up close and stopped, stepping off the motorcycle  
He looked them up for a moment  
Marcus was ready to speak but Dwight interupted him  
"You're Elizabeth's friends, right?" Dwight asked  
Marcus looked at him shocked,  
"What did you say?" Elaina asked, pushing past Marcus  
"I know where she is. She's safe.." Dwight looked down for a moment, thinking about Elizabeth being around Negan and how safe that really was, considering all he's done.  
"I want to see her" Joseph added.  
Dwight shook his head "I can't take you to where she is, I can't tell you where she is. It's too dangerous.."  
Elaina stepped closer to him but Marcus grabbed her hand  
"I know you want to see your friend, that's why I want to arrange a meeting. I can bring her to meet you somewhere" Dwight offered, trying his best to give them a smile  
But that was something he wasn't used to  
Things had been hard for him and Elizabeth was the first calm thing he had in a long time  
"When?" Joseph asked  
"I can bring her tomorrow. We can meet here?" Dwight asked  
Elaina quickly agreed, though Marcus was more hesitant about it  
"Why can't you tell us where she is? Is she hurt?" Marcus asked  
"She's fine. I'm sure she will explain everything tomorrow." Dwight said as he turned to get back on his motorcycle  
He looked over them one more time before leaving

"I don't know, I just don't trust it. Something doesn't feel right" Marcus said as they began their drive back home  
"But it's the best lead we have" Elaina argued  
"How else would he have known us anyway?" Joseph asked  
"She could have told those people about us, she could be dead.." he blurted out, causing a heavy silence to fill the car  
"I'm sorry.." he sighed, "Can we just be careful about it?" He asked  
Elaina reached over to take his hand, "We are always careful" she spoke softly  
"I love you" Marcus smiled over to her  
"I love you too" she replied  
Joseph made a fake gagging noise, making them all laugh  
"Let's get our friend back?" Elaina asked  
"We will" Marcus agreed  
They finished their ride home, eager to see Elizabeth again

~~  
 _ **I am so glad to be done with this chapter and moving on with this story. I have so much planned for this and I am super excited for it all. I hope you all are still enjoying!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_It had been a few days since I watched Negan kill my friend._  
 _I hated how well adjusted I was to the situation, how calm I had become._  
 _I hated how a part of me understood why he does what he does._

I fell back into my routine with Simon and actually managed to avoid Negan.  
He wasn't really around, which had me a bit bugged.  
That wasn't like him.  
I was sure he would pop in with that damn flirtatious smile.  
 _But he didn't._  
I asked Simon about it, but he just told me that he was busy dealing with another group, he wouldn't go into any more detail and I didn't push.

I woke up early in the morning, still set in my routine.  
I'd get up, shower and change, check my bag and make sure it's prepped for a run and then have breakfast.  
Usually I took breakfast in my room, but today I decided to eat in the cafeteria area.  
I was getting lonely, It was a cold loneliness that was beginning to weigh heavily on me.  
I even started to miss Negan a little.  
I know that was wrong, but we had been so close before.  
 _He was so different before.  
_ That thought was starting to plague my thoughts.

I was sitting by myself, thumbing through a book when Dwight came over.  
I smiled up at him.  
Dwight had been so nice to me, helped me so much and made sure my friends were okay.  
I owed him for that.  
But his face was serious.  
He leaned in close, lowering his voice  
"Do you want to see your friends?" he asked with out hesitation.  
I gave him a confused looked, tilting my head.  
"What do you mean?" I questioned, looking around for a moment to make sure no one was being nosy.  
"I saw your friends yesterday. They want to meet up" he said calmly.  
I stared at him for a few minutes, not really able to comprehend what he said.  
"Elaina and Marcus?" I questioned  
"And the boy" He added  
My eyes widened a little, "Joseph too?" I asked with a little excitement  
Dwight nodded again.  
I closed the book I was reading and slid it into my bag.  
"When can we go?" I asked, starting to stand up.  
"Well, we should probably go before Negan comes around. You don't want him questioning us" Dwight started off towards the door.  
I slid my bag over my shoulder and followed Dwight out the back.

We rode in silence for a bit, which was odd for Dwight.  
He usually liked to make some form of small talk, but now it was just silence.  
"So you ran into them? Or you have been keeping tabs on them?" I asked.  
He just hummed in response.  
I shifted in my seat of the truck.  
"Okay, what's going on?" I asked.  
He shook his head, "Something is going on. It's got me bugged"  
I looked at him for a moment, a bad feeling welling up in my gut.  
"Yeah.. I feel it too" I agreed, sitting back in the seat.  
But he didn't offer anything else and I didn't push.

We were headed down the highway.  
I was familiar with this area, it was a big access to The Sanctuary that Negan had worked to block up.  
We came up to the line of cars that blocked the road and parked.  
Dwight got out quickly and ran around to open my door for me, he leaned in close.  
"We need to make this quick" his voice was low and meant to be threatening, but it came across scared.  
I got out of the car and Dwight placed his hand on the small of my back.  
The touch was sort of shocking, which only made my nerves worse.  
But the moment was broken by the sound of my name being called.  
"Elizabeth!" Joseph called as he came running around one of the vehicles.  
"Joseph!" I returned as I ran to meet him in the middle.  
He threw his long, slender arms around me, clinging to me.  
"Elizabeth I missed you so much! Are you going to come home with us?" he asked, holding tighter to me.  
I held on just as tightly, though my heart sank.  
I was glad to see him, but he shouldn't be here.  
"Joseph.." I trailed off when I saw Marcus and Elaina walking over.  
My eyes immediately fell to how tight Elaina's shirt was around her stomach.  
 _Was she pregnant?_  
I tried to step forward, but Joseph stayed clinging to me.  
I rubbed his back slowly and let them walk over.  
"Oh my God, Elizabeth.." Marcus started, looking me up and down.  
He placed a strong hand on my shoulder but Elaina ran around, hugging me tightly from the side.  
I couldn't help but laugh a little.  
Marcus smiled brightly and placed his arm over my shoulder, pulling us all tighter in together.  
The moment was warm and welcoming, such a difference from the cold loneliness I had felt the last couple of days.  
We all stayed clinging to each other for a few more seconds before Marcus stepped back.  
"Elizabeth.. we have so much to talk about" his voice was so calm itt made my heart hurt.  
I had almost forgotten how much I loved Marcus.  
Elaina took a step back as well, "Yeah, we should start with this" she laughed a little, placing her hands on her stomach.  
Joseph stepped back, but took my hand and held it tightly.  
I squeezed his hand in response, giving him a soft smile before looking back to Elaina.  
"You're pregnant?" I asked with a growing smile.  
She quickly nodded, her smile growing to match mine.  
"We have known for a while, Elizabeth. We should have told you before.." Marcus started, his tone sad.  
It was odd that his excitement didn't match hers.  
"It's okay, I know now. That's all that matters. Is Rose taking care of things?" I asked.  
"Yes, she's been great about all of this! You're gonna come home with us right?" Joseph asked again.  
I pulled my hand away from his to ruffle his hair.  
"She can't do that" Dwight interrupted us and I shot him a look.  
"Why not?" he asked again.  
I looked down at him, trying my best to put on a brave face for him.  
"You see, I did a bad thing and it hurt some people. I'm trying to make that right" I was lying and it was obvious, even to Joseph, but he needed something to hold on to.  
He backed away from me.  
When I arrived to the group, Joseph and I instantly bonded.  
He was young, terrified and I helped him the best I could.  
He was like my little brother.  
"Please don't be angry with me. I'm doing what I can to protect you, Dwight has helped me a great deal with that." I smiled to him for a moment.  
"I know, we know you can't just go.. It's just hard" Elaina stepped over and hugged me again.  
"We can meet like this from now on. We just have to be smart about how we do it" Dwight added as he looked around.  
Marcus had backed up and was looking around nervously as well.  
"Dwight, why don't you take Elaina and Joseph back to our truck. I have some treats I carry in my bag. I'm sure they would like that" I kept my gaze on Marcus as I spoke.  
Elaina stepped over and took Josephs hand and led him to follow Dwight.

"Marcus, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" I asked a bit roughly as I pushed him back across the line of cars, making sure we were out of ear shot.  
He shook his head.  
I crossed my arms, nudging him.  
"I just, I don't know. I'm scared. Something isn't right.." He admitted, looking down.  
I felt that familiar fear rise up and settle in the pit of my stomach once again.  
Marcus was strong and extremely smart, he knew how to handle all of this.  
Hearing him admit he was scared had me terrified.  
"Scared of what? Did something happen?" I relaxed my arms.  
He finally looked up to me, "No nothing happened. It's just.. I can handle the Walkers. I can handle learning how to survive. But Elizabeth, bringing a baby into this? That's not something I really know how to handle. It feels wrong.." he looked at me almost desperately.  
I shook my head, "It isn't wrong. It's life, quite literally. It comes with the survival" I was trying to reassure him, but I grew even more nervous.  
"I know. Rose is great, but the group isn't set up to handle something like this. We don't have a Doctor or anything." his tone was starting to relax and become more calculated.  
I thought about the Doctor back at the Sanctuary.  
I had only seen him a few times, but he seemed very nice.  
It would be too dangerous to bring them to the Sanctuary, but maybe I could get Carson to them.  
"Maybe we can work something out.." I didn't want to get into too much detail or get his hopes up.  
"I hope so. Elizabeth, are you actually okay? Are you safe?" his tone turned to more worry as he placed his hands on my shoulders.  
"I am safe and I am okay. I promise you. I'm glad I got to see all of you, that helps a lot" I gave him a smile, walking in closer to hug him.  
"I really missed you Elizabeth.. the group isn't the same with out you." his tone was softer now as his arms moved around me.  
The hug was intimate but innocent and I welcomed it.  
"Elizabeth, you need to watch your back.. something is going on" Marcus started, but we were both interrupted.  
"Elizabeth!" Dwight called out my name, making me jump out of the hug.  
I turned back to him.  
"We gotta go" he motioned towards the truck.  
Elaina and Joseph came back around, both pulling me into a hug.  
"I will see you soon. I promise. Dwight will keep us in contact, you can trust him" I said reassuringly.  
"Be good" Elaina said, giving me one last hug before walking over to Marcus.  
"Promise I'll see you soon?" Joseph asked as he squeezed me in another hug.  
"I promise" I held tightly for a second before pulling away.  
I watched them walk to the other side of the cars before turning back to Dwight.

We drove in silence once again.  
I was happy to see them, but still bugged.  
I knew Marcus was worried for Elaina and the baby, but whatever else had him scared had me scared as well.  
Something that Negan knew, something that Simon knew, hell even Marcus knew, but they weren't letting me in on it.

Dwight pulled up to the Sanctuary and left the car parked just at the gate.  
We got out and he walked around beside me once again.  
"So, did you have a good time?" He asked, nudging me.  
"Yeah, I really appreciate this. I don't understand why you're so eager to help me though.. you seemed so close to Negan" I stopped and looked up at him.  
"Yeah, I was close to Negan. Just like you are. We both understand why he does what he does and we respect it but.." he sighed  
"We still have to survive on our own as well"  
He had a good point.  
Negan could protect us, we could have a good life here, but it meant nothing if we weren't pressing for more of a life.  
"Besides, I like seeing you so happy. That smiles looks good on you" he laughed.  
I rolled my eyes at him and playfully nudged him as I giggled.  
But our happy moment was interrupted by that familiar whistling.  
We both jumped, looking up to see Negan at the top of the stairs.  
His bat swung over his shoulder.  
"Well, well, well what have I got here? Two of my top people sneaking out together? Now this just ain't right.." his tone was sarcastic and that alone was terrifying.  
"We were just out on a run. Simon cut Elizabeth off for the day so I thought we would make a little run on our own" Dwight lied.  
But Negan just laughed, walking down the steps in front of us.  
He let out a small groan, rubbing at his beard.  
"Oh yeah? Little run? Well, what did ya bring me?" he asked, looking at the truck.  
I watched Negan carefully as he inched closer to Dwight.  
"Well, we didn't find anything. Nothing worth wasting your time over" he spoke quickly, enough to give us away.  
Negan stepped closer, pulling his bat off his shoulder and placing it against Dwight's as he leaned in close.  
"See, that's how I know you're lying. You took _my_ girl out, _my_ top scavenger, but you didn't bring anything back?" he laughed louder, watching Dwight's reaction.  
"We didn't find anything, simple as that. Sometimes the run is just empty" I spoke up.  
Negan didn't even look at me, he was fixed on Dwight.  
"You two went out on this special run, alone. You want me to believe it was just a run and not something else? What my other girls not good enough for you? You gotta compromise _my_ girl?" he questioned, his tone picking up more anger.  
 _My girl_  
He kept repeating that, it was oddly calming.  
Negan kept the tense moment with Dwight for a little longer before relaxing.  
He let out a laugh, dropping his bat down to his side.  
"If you needed a fuck buddy all you had to do was ask Dwighty boy! Go about your business and we can discuss this later" his tone was sharp.  
Dwight didn't even look back to me, he just took off past Negan and made his way inside.  
Finally Negan turned to face me.  
"You're coming with me" he grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the door.

He didn't say a word as we made our way to my room, that was odd.  
But once the door was closed, he didn't hesitate.  
"What the fuck were you thinking?" He yelled, swinging his bat around to rest against his shoulder once again.  
I shook my head, crossing my arms  
"I don't understand why you're so mad.." I started, but he cut me off.  
"You have a set schedule with Simon for a reason. You have rules for a reason! You don't get to go off doing what ever the hell you want Elizabeth!" He paused to take a breath, he placed his bat by the door and turned to face me again.  
"You wanna fuck Dwight, fine. But you aren't going to do it on my time!" he dropped his hands and they immediately balled into fists.  
I dropped my arms, stepping over closer.  
"You think I'm fucking Dwight? That's your problem?" my tone was now matching his.  
"You don't go out on a run alone with a guy, coming back all Chatty Cathy and smiling like you won the lottery over one simple run! Elizabeth I'm not stupid!" he stepped closer, his tone growing louder.  
I shook my head, not sure of what to say to him.  
A few minutes ago I felt comfort in the intimacy of him saying "My Girl"  
Now I just felt sick to my stomach.  
It wasn't because he cared for my safety, he just didn't want me fucking someone else.  
"I don't really know what to tell you Negan.." I couldn't look up at him.  
This man was so different from the man I knew before.  
I understood why he did what he did, I didn't like it, but I understood.  
Still, I held on to some bit of hope that he would be good, but he was selfish.  
"You don't have to say anything, Elizabeth. You want to whore yourself out to who ever offers, fine!" he snapped.  
It made me jump, his words stinging.  
The tense moment fell quiet and heavy as I looked up at him.  
His harsh tone didn't match the pained look on his face.  
"What happened to you?" I asked quietly.  
He stepped in closer, shaking his head as if he didn't understand.  
"The man I knew.." I started, but he laughed, cutting me off.  
"The man you think you knew, he's dead and gone. He died with this world. Every last bit of him buried and I was reborn. I was given a second chance. A chance to survive doing whatever it takes. I don't care about what you thought you knew.." his voice trailed off just slightly at the end, but his tone held that sharp sting.  
I shook my head, my anger rising up once again.  
"God you're a fucking asshole!" I snapped.  
But I was met with his hand across my face, it wasn't rough, just enough to grab my attention and sting slightly.  
I took a step back, bringing my hand to my face to rub it gently.  
The look on his face, the look of immediate regret, almost made me dizzy.  
I felt tears stinging in my eyes.  
He shook his head, trying to recompose himself.  
"You're not going on any more solo runs. If your regular men are busy, you're allowed only to go with Simon or with me. Hell, you are not going to leave this room with out my permission. You will learn to follow my rules Elizabeth or you will die here. Simple as that" he spoke quickly and calmly, turning away from me.  
"No, no Negan please. Don't do this to me" I started as I stumbled after him, my tears coming faster now.  
"You can't just lock me up like a prisoner. Look, I'm sorry.." he cut me off by turning to face me.  
He looked down at me, his eyes soft and filled with a hint of worry even.  
He lifted his hand, gently touching where he had slapped me, his thumb wiping away my tears.  
"I hope you will soon understand why I'm doing this.." he leaned in closer as he spoke.  
"Negan please, I.." but I was cut off by his lips pressed against mine.  
The kiss was soft and quick, but intimate enough to leave me hazed.  
He didn't give me a chance to say anything, barely had a chance to catch my breath before he was gone.

 _ **R & R is always appreciated! I have been planning out these next chapters for so long and things are about to get really interesting and I am so excited! Hope you're all still enjoying it! **_


	8. Chapter 8

I paced back and forth in my room, my thoughts running a million miles a minute.  
Seeing my friends, how scared Marcus seemed, how mad Negan was and the kiss.  
It all blurred into one thing, _anger_.  
I was mad that he was keeping me locked up, hell I was mad I was even here in the first place.  
When I arrived, my initial reaction was to do whatever it takes to survive.  
But after seeing Negan, I just fell too comfortable here.  
It was easy to forget that, no matter what freedom he gave me, I was still a prisoner.  
I could rebel all I wanted, I could push his limits and work my way up, but nothing would change.  
The man I knew before, _the man I had fallen in love with_ , was gone and I needed to accept that fact.  
I can't save him, nothing could. He would never change.  
All I could do was keep surviving here with the hope that maybe one day he will get bored and let me go home to my friends.  
Until then, I'd work like I was supposed to, I would see my friends like Dwight promised and I would wait until I got the chance to go home.

I tried my best to sleep, but it wasn't going to happen.  
My thoughts just kept circling in my head.  
I needed a run, I needed to clear my head.  
So I went about my usual routine, getting up and getting ready.  
I slid my bag over my shoulder and went to open my door.  
Of course Negan had men outside my door.  
I let out a sigh, "It's time for me to meet Simon for my run"  
One of them turned and eyed me up and down.  
I shook my head, giving them a look.  
"Got a problem? I'm gonna be late and Negan won't like that.." I crossed my arms.  
He let out a groan, "Fine, but I gotta escort you there" his voice seemed annoyed and I felt bad he had to watch over me.  
I relaxed a little, "Okay then"

The man followed me down to one of the meeting rooms and lingered by the door.  
I tilted my head, "You don't have to wait with me. I'm here with the guys and Simon, like I'm supposed to be. I'll make sure Simon walks me back when we're done with our run. Go enjoy your day" I spoke quickly, not giving him much time to disagree.  
He sighed again and walked off.  
I stepped into the room and Simon smiled at me,  
"Princess Lizzie, was wondering what was taking you so long. Old Theo there taking up all your time?" he laughed.  
He was always so calm and happy and that relaxed me further.  
"Yeah, slow poke really" I laughed "What do we have planned?" I asked, stepping over to where he was sitting.  
He slid the map out on the table and traced his finger along an area.  
"We are going to make a quick run here" he pointed to an area we had already been to a few times.  
I shook my head.  
I needed a good run, not a comb over.  
"Why there?" I questioned.  
He shifted in his seat for a moment, "We just want to do a quick sweep.." his voice trailed off.  
I let out a sigh, "Negan talked to you, didn't he?" I crossed my arms.  
Simon looked up at me, letting out a sigh.  
I shook my head, slamming my hands down on the table.  
"I want a longer run. A real run!" I snapped.  
Simon shook his head, pointing to the area again.  
"Where exactly do you want us to go?" he asked.  
I slid the map closer, looking over the surrounding area.  
I pointed to a spot to the east of us. It was a large area that we hadn't been to yet.  
"I want to go here. It's prime shopping ground, not heavily populated but with enough space that there would be some good finds" I looked at Simon who became suddenly tense.  
"No, that's the dead zone. It's been cleared already and we are not going there" he spoke quickly.  
"But Simon.." but he cut me off before I could continue.  
"Elizabeth, we are not going to the dead zone! That's final. We are going to this area, if you don't like it I can have you sent back to your room" his tone was harsh as he snapped at me. He had never really been that way towards me, not even when I first arrived here.  
So I knew something was up.  
I took a few steps back from him, a little too shocked by his outburst to really say anything.  
I turned and walked towards the door.  
"Elizabeth, you know you can't leave with out an escort" he said as he stood.  
I stopped, but didn't face him. "I'm just going to get some air and load up the truck, that's all. We can go to whatever area you want, I just want to go Simon.." I sighed.  
Simon did the same, "Okay Elizabeth. I'll be out there shortly.."  
I didn't wait for him to say anything else, I just made my way outside.

I was at the front truck, loading up our supplies and my pack when I heard footsteps.  
"Took you long enough" I sighed, expecting it to be Simon, but it wasn't.  
It was Dwight.  
He looked around for a minute before stepping in close to me.  
As he got closer, I could see the purple bruising around his eye.  
"Dwight.." I sighed his name.  
He shook his head, "I'm fine. Look I heard you talking to Simon.. You wanna go to the dead zone?" he questioned.  
"Yeah, to my knowledge it hadn't been explored, but he insists that it has" I crossed my arms, watching him carefully.  
"It hasn't. Negan put strict orders for no one to go there." he looked around again.  
I shook my head, "I don't understand. If they insist it's empty, why order everyone no to go there?" I was thinking out loud.  
"I think Negan might be hiding something out there. Simon knows about it, but I don't. You're itching for a good run, aren't you?" he asked as he looked me over.  
"Yeah, I need to clear my head. But you'll get in trouble.." I placed my hand on his shoulder.  
"Oh he can't do anything worse to me. If Negan believes you care for me, he won't rough me up too bad. Besides, Simon will just think you bailed on the run. I already payed off Theo to pretend you're in your room and I have a car just outside the back gate. But if we're going to go, we should go now." he took a step back, holding out his hand for me.  
I didn't really think much about what I was doing, I just wanted to go.  
I took his hand and followed him.  
We made it out the back gate fairly easy and to the car he had waiting.  
He brought two of his friends with us as well.  
So if we did get caught, we had two others proving we weren't ''sneaking off together''.

The drive east wasn't too bad, just long stretches of road.  
The men tried to make jokes and small talk, but I was still in my thoughts.  
"What do you think Negan is hiding out here? More wives?" one of the men laughed.  
I crossed my arms, sinking down in my seat a little.  
Dwight placed his hand on my leg, looking over to me for a second before returning his focus to the road.  
"Don't mind them. They haven't been out in a while" Dwight laughed, trying to make me feel better.  
But as we drove further away from The Sanctuary, further from Negan, the more nervous I got about it all.  
Finally we pulled up to a small mill type town.  
Small stores and big mill style buildings lined the road.  
A pretty big contrast to the stretch of farm lands just beyond it.  
"Let's start with the stores, work our way up to check out those big buildings. We packed light, so we will only carry back light. We can always come back" I looked between each of them as I spoke.  
They all nodded in response.  
It felt good to get back into my rhythm.  
"Let's go then" I said with a smile as I got out of the car.

 _We made a sweep through all the stores._  
 _Everything was intact, seemed way too cleaned up._  
 _Though there really wasn't much to get, maybe Simon was right._

We met back up in the street, all of us pretty much empty handed.  
"Alright, we will take one last sweep of that big building and call it a day. Maybe Simon was right." I looked to Dwight.  
He shook his head, "I don't know. It's so quiet. Even on our rural runs we see at least one Walker, but not here. Everything is so clean.." he looked around.  
"I don't know, maybe Negan has cleaned it up cause he's wanting to expand? Make a new outpost or somethin?" one of the guys offered.  
"Maybe. We will check the building anyway" I shrugged.

We made our way into the big building.  
It was clean as well, quiet and empty.  
In fact, it was a little too empty.  
I expected for there to be shelves, tables, counters, anything really.  
But the floor was pretty open, aside from a few chairs out in the middle and empty beer bottles.  
I knew immediately that something here wasn't right.  
We walked right into a trap.  
"Dwight.." I started, but he grabbed my hand.  
The doors we had come through swung open behind us.  
Each of us spun around, Dwight pulling me back behind him.  
A group of men flooded the door way, spilling into the space.  
A tall man with a slender build and messy, dirty blonde hair walked forward.  
"Well boys, think we found our salvation" his laughter filled the room.  
He had some what of a southern accent, but his tone was sickening still.  
He stepped forward, a few men spreading out to our sides.  
I instinctively reached for the strap of my bag, but realized I left my pack in Simon's truck.  
"Shit.." I whispered to myself.  
The man walked up closer to Dwight, the two guys who came with us closed in with Dwight, pushing me back behind them.  
"You're part of that big group, yeah? That jacked up face of yours says it all" The man laughed, licking his lips as he eyed Dwight.  
"Who are you?" Dwight asked, holding his ground.  
The man laughed, "Well I'm Julian! It's a pleasure to meet ya, Pretty. This group here, we call ourselves the Heretics. You see, we got a certain set of beliefs and practices that this world has opened our eyes to." he rambled a bit and caught himself.  
"Practices and rituals that get interrupted when your people come pushing our territory. Now, we done warned your leader once about this. Seems like we need to send a better message, huh?" he bit at his bottom lip as he chuckled, pulling a gun from his holster.  
The other men followed the same action.  
"See, we ain't got time for you to beg or cry or whine, so we're gonna get this over with real quick. We're gonna kill all but one of ya. The last one standing can go back to your leader and tell him to back off. That understood?" He questioned, pointing the gun right at Dwight.  
But I noticed one of the other men inching closer to us on the side, he eyed me closely.  
 _I swear I had seen him before._  
"Wait a minute boss, you're gonna wanna rethink this.." he spoke up.  
"What is it?" Julian asked, a bit annoyed.  
The man who was watching me smiled brightly, a sickening smile.  
"The girl" he nodded towards me.  
Two other men stepped up to the guys and pulled them away from me.  
I took a few steps back.  
"She belongs to the leader. He's constantly checkin' up on her. He's obsessed with her or somethin'" He spoke as he walked over to Julian.  
"Your best bet is to just kill her, let the men take her back to their leader. That will send one hell of a message" he laughed.  
"Kill the Queen to hurt the King.." Julian mumbled to himself and immediately pointed his gun at me.  
"No, no. You're wrong! She's my wife, not his. Please" Dwight started to plead.  
But it only made all the men laugh.  
"I'm Negan's right hand man. You wanna hurt him, kill me. Not her" Dwight continued.  
Julian pointed the gun at Dwight once again.  
"All your beggin' is doing is tellin' me that's she pretty important. But you want me to kill you instead?" he questioned.  
"Yes. I work the best for Negan, I get the most done. He doesn't care about her." Dwight stepped closer to him.  
"They are lyin' boss." The man who ratted me out spoke up with a laugh.  
"Maybe so. But I like this one beggin' me" Julian laughed.  
Dwight nodded, it was obvious he was ready to accept this fate.  
"Just shoot me and get on with it!" Dwight snapped and closed his eyes.  
"Alright then. We will get on with it" Julian laughed out loud again.  
Dwight closed his eyes tighter, bracing himself.  
I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes as I watched.  
The shot rang out through the room, sending our ears ringing.  
The only sound we could hear, apart from the ringing, was Julian's manic laughter.  
Only to be followed by a silence that was equally as deafening.

 _ **R & R is always appreciated! Ah I am so excited for all of this!**_


	9. Chapter 9

The knock made Negan jump.  
He let out a sigh, "What?" he snapped.  
"We need to talk about Elizabeth.." Simon called out from the other side of the door.  
Negan stood and walked over, opening the door.  
He could tell something was up by the look on Simon's face.  
"What is it?" He asked, crossing his arms.  
"She came to me about our run today. She was supposed to be loading up the trucks, but she's gone" Simon shifted where he stood.  
"Yeah, I checked with Theo outside her room. Said she didn't wanna do her run today. She's got an attitude, I don't care if she stays in that room." his tone was casual.  
"Yeah, but she left this in my truck." Simon said as he lifted up Elizabeth's pack.  
"She never leaves it just anywhere.." he looked down, offering the pack to Negan.  
His anger grew as he took the pack from Simon.  
"Find Dwight, now. I'm gonna have a talk with Theo" he tossed her pack on his bed and grabbed his bat before storming out of his room.  
He made good time down to her room.  
Theo stood straight as soon as he saw Negan.  
"Where is she?" he asked.  
Theo looked at him scared, "L-look I'm sorry. D-Dwight gave me his points if I told everyone she was in her room. He said she just wanted to go for a walk.." Theo immediately admitted.  
Negan slammed his fist against the wall.  
"God damn it!" he yelled.  
Simon came down the hall, "Dwight is gone. Plus Chris and Tyler"  
Negan shook his head, bringing his fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose.  
"Negan... she was asking about the dead zone" Simon said a bit sadly.  
His head snapped up, "She what?" he snapped.

 _Dwight kept his eyes held shut, embracing for the pain he thought would follow the crack of the shot. But it never came._  
Once the ringing stopped, I could hear Julian still laughing, the foot steps of the men as they began shuffling out.  
I looked to Dwight, searching for his wound. But I didn't see anything.  
He turned around quickly to look at me.  
His face grew pale and his eyes widened.  
I tilted my head, not sure of what was going on.  
 _But then I felt it._  
At first it was just a tickle going down my shirt.  
I lifted my hands to feel and my shirt was wet.  
When I looked down, my hands were covered in dark red blood.  
I felt sick to my stomach and that's when I became more aware of what was going on.  
The pain that started in my stomach was hot and excruciating.  
It traveled all the way up to my chest, which now felt tight.  
I felt like I couldn't breathe.  
My knees began to shake and they buckled under me, causing me to fall to them.  
"Elizabeth!" I heard Dwight call out for me, but it sounded so distant.  
I looked down to my wound that was now bleeding profusely.  
I had braced for Dwight to be shot, but they shot me instead.  
With no hesitation at all.  
They wanted to send the message and this was it.  
They didn't stick around either, most of them were already gone.  
I blinked a few times, spots appearing in my vision.  
Dwight kneeled beside me, placing his arm around me to hold me up.  
"Elizabeth, can you hear me?" he asked, pulling me in closer.  
I looked up to him, continuing to try to blink the spots away.  
He was blinking back tears, "It's okay. I'm gonna get you back to Carson and he's going to help you. I'm so sorry.." his voice was fading further away.  
"Dwight.." I started as I shook my head.  
I didn't want him to be so sad, I hated how it felt.  
I wanted to protest more, I wanted to assure him I was fine.  
But I felt my stomach turn and tighten, my breath catching in my throat.  
I had a rusty taste in my mouth for a moment before my body wracked forward and I began coughing up blood.  
I whined a little, closing my eyes to try and breathe through the nausea that followed.  
Dwight groaned and quickly picked me up.  
"Go get the car and bring it close" he spoke as I rested my head on his chest.  
I felt the gentle sway of him carrying me and I began to fade in and out.

 _The car ride was the worst._  
 _Dwight held me in his arms in the back seat, letting the others drive._  
 _He instructed them to go as quickly as they could, but each bump in the road sent a shooting pain all over._  
 _Dwight tried to coo me with his words, but I was still fading in and out._

Negan was waiting for us just inside the gate.  
He was angry, ready to chew us all out.  
 _But he had no idea._  
We pulled up by the line of trucks and the two guys got out first.  
Negan made his way over, but as soon as the guys got out, they fell to their knees in front of him.  
Negan knew right away that something was wrong.  
"Where is she?!" he snapped.  
Dwight pushed the car door open, carefully stepping out, holding me close.  
From the ride and my coughing fits, Dwight was already covered in my blood as he held me.  
Negan lost his grip on his bat and it hit the ground.  
The silence that followed this was also deafening.  
"Elizabeth.." I could barely hear him call out my name.  
"I am so sorry, I.." Dwight started as he stepped forward.  
"Go get Carson, now!" Negan yelled to his men.  
I felt Dwight carefully shift me in his arms and a new grip was on me.  
Negan was taking me out of Dwights arms.  
He held me close.  
I breathed in his scent, the familiar warmth of his chest was calming, pushing me closer to unconsciousness.  
"It's okay, sweetheart. You're going to be just fine" he whispered to me.  
My lips felt cold, I could taste the blood coming from my lips again.  
"Negan.." I barely choked out his name before everything went black.

 _"Why did you take her there?"_  
 _"I had no idea!"_  
 _"I need more hands in here"_  
 _"Do whatever you have to!"_  
 _"It doesn't look good.."_  
 _"She's lost a lot of blood"_  
 _"I think the bullet grazed.."_  
 _"We aren't equipped for this"_  
 _"I need you to save her"_  
 _"Please, I'm so sorry"_  
 _"Please, Elizabeth. Hold on"_  
All the voices sounded sharp but distant, fading into one another.  
I felt warm and my body felt heavy.  
I wanted to open my eyes, I wanted to move, but it was so hard.  
 _I was so tired._  
I blinked a few times, the bright light of the infirmary blinding me a bit as I squinted.  
"Elizabeth?" the familair voice was right by my ear.  
I worked hard to turn my head to look at Negan.  
His eyes were red.  
 _Was he crying?_  
He lifted his hand to gently brush my hair back off my forehead as he looked me over.  
"Hold on, everything is going to be okay." his voice was soft.  
I could still hear others talking, but they seemed so quiet and far.  
I opened my mouth to speak, but only mumbles came out.  
I closed my eyes, fading slightly.  
"Please.." Negan whispered as he brushed his lips across my forehead.  
"Come back to me. Come back to me, Sweetheart" his voice was pleading.  
"I'm so tired.." I managed to whimper.  
I looked up at him again and he tried to force a smile.  
"You rest and don't worry. Everything will be fine.." his voice faded off as I relaxed into the darkness once again.

"I don't care what you have to do. I don't care how many supplies you use. Just save her!" Negan snapped at Carson.  
But Carson just shook his head.  
"Sir I'm sorry. We just aren't equipped for this. Negan, I don't think she's going to make it.." his tone was sad but serious.  
"I will try all that I can with what I have.." he turned and left Negan in the hall.  
He paced back and forth for a while, before his anger caught up with him.  
He stormed down the hall and out the door to where we had arrived back in the car.  
Dwight was standing out there.  
Negan saw him, still covered in _her_ blood. That sent him into a fury.  
He picked up where he dropped his bat and walked over to Dwight.  
He pressed the bat so hard against his chest, that the sharp barb wire was digging into his skin.  
"What the hell were you thinking taking her out there!" He yelled right in his face.  
Dwight stumbled a bit, shaking his head.  
"I'm so sorry. I had no idea. Simon never told me anything about it!" he tried to protest.  
"I set rules for her! For you! I will not be disobeyed!" he swung the bat around a few times.  
"Look, I don't care what you do to me. I tried to protect her! I'm in love with her too!" he blurted out.  
Negan took a step back, as if his words had actually struck him.  
Negan knew the feelings he had for Elizabeth, but he couldn't admit them. He feared they would make him appear weak.  
But hearing Dwight say it out loud and admit he shared the feelings made Negan jealous.  
"You son of a bitch!" Negan yelled, hauling off and punching Dwight.  
He barely gave Dwight time to react before he grabbed his shirt, pulling him up for another few good hits.  
Dwight stumbled back on the ground.  
Negan stepped up to hit him again, but Simon interrupted them.  
"We need to talk" He said quickly as he made his way down the steps.  
Negan spun around, "Is she.." he started.  
Simon shook his head, "Carson is doing a good job. We need to talk about that group"  
Dwight groaned as he tried to stand, "They knew too much. What the hell is with them?" he asked.  
Negan rubbed at his beard, groaning. "We ran into them before. Weren't really worth the time trying to fight. Not even worth making a deal with them. They are weirdos anyway. We agreed to leave their land alone, that's why we call it the dead zone" Negan explained.  
"They shot Elizabeth to warn us to back off. But they knew too much about her.." Dwight spoke up again.  
Simon nodded, "Yeah, I talked to Tyler and Chris about what happened. Seems we have a spy here that's feeding them information. We need to get a handle on this.." Simon looked over Negan as he spoke.  
But Negan shook his head.  
"If we have a spy.." he started, shaking his head.  
"She isn't safe here" Dwight finished for him.  
Simon looked between them.  
"She's supposed to be dead. These freaks mean business. If the spy finds out she's here alive, they will try to kill her again." Negan explained.  
Simon pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a sigh.  
"Where can we take her? The out post won't be safe either if we have a spy among us" Simon shook his head as he spoke.  
Negan looked down, a terribly pained look growing on his face, "I know exactly where to take her. I'm not going to like it, but she will be safe.."  
Simon and Dwight both looked up at Negan, the look on his face telling exactly what he had planned.

The hours passed by in what felt like long, agonizing seconds.  
I drifted in and out of consciousness as Carson kept checking on me.  
I had no idea what all was going on, how long it had been, all I felt was exhaustion and pain.  
I could barely open my eyes, but I knew we were moving.  
They were being careful with me.  
Soon, familiar sounds became clear.  
The truck door closing, the truck starting, Carson instructing me to stay still.  
"Are you sure you wanna go alone?" I heard Simon ask.  
"Yeah, I need to do this on my own." That was Negan.  
I heard the gravel under the truck as we began to drive.  
Most of the drive I was out of it.  
We came to a bit of a hard stop which pulled me back into my daze.  
I heard Carson barely mumble as I was pulled from the truck.  
I felt the warmth of Negan as he held me in his arms, I buried my face in his neck.  
"It's okay, Elizabeth. You're going to be just fine." He whispered.  
I heard a loud thud of a gate opening.  
I barely tilted my head and squinted my eyes open.  
I could see walls and a gate opening to what looked like a neighborhood.  
A man stepped forward.  
I looked up to Negan, who looked down at me with a defeated smile.  
"What's goin' on?" The man asked.  
Negan looked up to the man.  
I felt dizzy, the darkness closing in again.  
"Rick, I need your help.." I heard Negan ask just before everything went dark.

 _ **R & R is always appreciated! I was so happy to write this chapter haha **_


	10. Chapter 10

" _Elizabeth, please. Please hold on."_ I could hear Negan pleading, but I couldn't open my eyes.  
 _"Bring her in here and lay her down. She's bleeding out"_ I could hear Carson.  
 _"We can take care of her"_ The man I saw at the gates said reassuringly.  
I was drifting in the cold darkness.  
I wanted so badly to open my eyes.  
But the harder I tried, the more distant their voices became.  
 _Until everything went silent._

I felt strong, like I could open my eyes. Like I could sit up.  
So I did.  
But it wasn't what I expected.  
When I opened my eyes, the sun was shining brightly.  
I could hear the gentle hum of cicadas in the distance, the cool breeze hitting my face.  
I looked around.  
I was sitting in the middle of a field.  
One that wasn't too far from where my group was staying.  
I would come out here with Marcus and Elaina sometimes, just so we could clear our heads.  
It was a nice open area, so gentle and calming.  
It always felt like it didn't belong in a world like this.  
I carefully stood up, brushing out the settled wrinkles of my white summer dress.  
Nothing about this felt good, I tried clinging to some sense of reality.  
But I couldn't deny the urge to settle here.  
If this was my death, it wouldn't be half bad.  
I walked forward, my fingertips tracing lightly over the tops of the tall wildflowers.  
It was comforting.  
 _No Walkers, no fight, just peace._  
But still, even settling into the idea, something felt off.  
Something was missing.  
As if on cue, I heard my name being called.  
"Elizabeth!" I turned to see Joseph running towards me.  
"Elizabeth, look!" He was holding a basket full of fresh red apples.  
I smiled down at him, ruffling his hair.  
"That's great. They look delicious" I said happily.  
He set the basket down and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly.  
"I missed you while you were gone. Marcus and Elaina are too busy with the baby to play cards with me and Rose doesn't like it" he slightly whined.  
I couldn't help but giggle.  
"I'll play cards with you any day" I teased.  
But his face grew sad and tears started to form in his eyes.  
I gently cupped his chin in my hand, making him look up at me.  
"Hey, hey" I gently whispered  
"Please don't leave me" he cried.  
I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into a tighter hug.  
"I'm not going anywhere. I promise you" I gently kissed the top of his head.  
"Elizabeth?" I heard Marcus say my name.  
I turned around to face him.  
When I did, Joseph disappeared.  
I looked around for a moment, not exactly sure what was going on.  
"Elizabeth, you can't leave us. You can't let go" Marcus started as he walked forward closer to me.  
I shook my head, "What? I'm not.." but he cut me off by taking my hands.  
"You know I love you. I always have." his face was sad as he reached up to brush my hair out of my face.  
I hated this look on him.  
"It was always easy with you. The first day I met you out on that road, when you saved me. We just worked together. I've cared about you, I've loved you since that day. You never stopped pushing me. When I met Elaina, you showed me how okay it was to fall in love. I feel okay with having a child because I know we have you to help us, to help bring us hope. You can't leave us behind now" he was blinking away tears as he spoke.  
I shook my head, feeling tears sting my eyes as well.  
"Elaina needs you. Our child needs you in this world" He looked over his shoulder and I saw Elaina standing off in the distance. Her hands rubbing over her extended stomach.  
I wanted to run to her, I wanted to hug her and tell her everything would be fine.  
I looked around and saw Simon and Dwight standing off to the side.  
They were clean cut, well kept.  
It seemed odd for them to look this way.  
I shook my head and looked back to Marcus.  
"I don't understand.." I started feeling myself getting more upset.  
Marcus placed his hand on my face, his thumb gently rubbing cheek.  
" _Elizabeth, you're dying_ " his words were so calm, so gentle that it made me feel sick.  
I backed up away from him until I felt someone grab my shoulder.  
I turned around and it was Negan.  
He looked down at me with a smile.  
"Hello, love" his voice was soft.  
I turned around to look at Marcus, but he was gone. They were all gone.  
"Negan I.." I started as I turned back to face him, but I was met with his lips against mine.  
He gently kissed me as he pulled me closer to him.  
He pulled away to rest his forehead against mine.  
"I don't understand what's happening.." I said quietly.  
"He was right, Elizabeth. You're dying" his voice was too calm for what he was saying.  
I started to get more upset.  
He carefully cupped my face in his hands, "I know it's scary. But you're strong. You have two choices in front of you" he started as he carefully spun me around to look back over the field.  
The sun was beginning to set.  
He carefully wrapped his arms around me, pulling me back against his chest.  
"You can stay here, with me. It will be as simple as that sun setting." He carefully ran his fingers through my hair and gently kissed the top of my head.  
"Or you can run. Run as fast as you can across this field and fight. It will be hard, but you have me either way. You can choose peace, no one will judge you for it. Or you can fight and choose to survive. For yourself, for your friends, for me. It's your choice" he kissed my head again and let go of me.  
Everything fell silent.  
I thought about how easy it would be to turn around and kiss him, to just go quietly.  
But every part of me was screaming to run.  
I couldn't leave Joseph behind.  
I couldn't leave Marcus and Elaina, or their baby.  
Hell, I couldn't leave Negan behind. Not again.  
I took a deep breath, mustering up all the strength I had.  
 _And I ran._

I was gently pulled from the darkness.  
Just barely dozing in and out as I gained strength.  
I became more aware of my body.  
I didn't feel so heavy anymore.  
But all my muscles ached, a low throbbing pain.  
But I was thankful to be feeling something.  
I carefully blinked my eyes open.  
The room I was in looked comforting.  
Everything was so welcoming.  
The walls painted a pale blue, the furniture clean and white.  
I blinked away the remaining blur in my vision and saw I was laying in a bed with big fluffy white sheets.  
I had a few IVs in my arm and a table with some supplies was off to my left side.  
Simon was sitting beside me, laying his head against the side of the bed.  
I wanted to sit up and I tried, but it just ached.  
My movement woke him and he sat up quickly, reaching for his knife.  
I looked at him confused and realized.  
 _He thought I was dead, he thought I was a Walker_  
"Simon.." my voice came out weak, but he immediately relaxed.  
"Hey there, Kiddo" he laughed, placing his hand on my arm.  
I smiled at him, "What's.." I started, but he shook his head.  
"Let me go get Carson so he can check you out. Just try to relax and don't move, okay?" he asked as he stood up.  
I nodded slowly.  
I wanted to close my eyes again, but I was scared.  
I didn't want to go back to fading in and out.  
Instead, I looked around the room, taking in every detail I could as I waited.

"Ah Elizabeth, how are you feeling?" I heard Carson say as he made his way into the room.  
I looked up at him with a proud smile, "Tired" I laughed a little.  
He pulled back the fluffy white blanket and began checking my wound before taking my other vitals.  
"Well, that's to be expected. You lost a lot of blood.." he trailed off.  
He looked over to Simon.  
"He's not here. Didn't want to make Rick too uncomfortable by hangin' around" Simon said.  
I looked between them both, knowing they were talking about Negan.  
"Well, you might want to go get him. I don't want her awake for too long." Carson went back to checking me out.  
Simon left the room quickly.  
"Where am I?" I asked, looking up at Carson.  
He just smiled down at me and shook his head.  
"Negan can explain better once he gets here. I don't want you to move a muscle, got it? You lay here and relax." he pulled the blanket back up and settled me in before leaving me alone in the room.

I tried to make sense of everything that had happened.  
I tried to remember at least something about where I was.  
But I could only remember the large walls and the gate I saw and the man who greeted us at the gate.  
I started to feel my eyes get heavy as I tried to go over everything.  
So I just closed my eyes.  
I was lost in my thoughts when I felt someone touch my arm.  
"I'm sorry I'm so late.." It was Negan.  
His rough hands were gently rubbing my arm.  
I kept my eyes closed, trying to muster up that energy again.  
I felt him brush my hair back off my forehead as he spoke, "Please, Elizabeth." his voice was broken, something I hadn't seen in a long time.  
I started to focus on that and the memories drifted through my mind.

"I shouldn't have kissed you, Elizabeth. I shouldn't have done any of it. It was all a mistake. You coming here with Lucinda, that was a mistake. They never got along. I wasted so much time on this!" his words were hurtful, but his tone just seemed to be so broken.  
I stood in my room, in front of the painting I had been working on for weeks, just starting at it.  
I couldn't look at him.  
"You want us to go?" I questioned quietly.  
"Yeah, we do. She's sick, Elizabeth and she's dying. I just want her" he continued to pace around my room.  
I had a nice day thinking that maybe things would be different.  
Negan had admitted his feelings for me, only to find out hours later, that Lucille was sick.  
He reacted like most people would, in a panic.  
He was now making me leave, along with her sister, Lucinda.  
"I'll pack my things and be out of here tonight, I can't speak for Lucinda though" I was trying to stay calm. I wanted to be selfish and scream and beg, but I couldn't bring myself to it.  
"I already asked her to go" he stopped pacing, I could feel his eyes on me.  
I wondered if maybe he was waiting for me to argue him on it.  
"I'm sorry to have been a bother in this difficult time. If you need anything.." I started to turn towards him.  
"I just need you gone" his reply was cold and he left my room.  
I spent those next few hours packing up just what I needed. I couldn't carry around too much, especially since I had no where to go.  
My parents were gone, I didn't have any other family.  
 _This was my home._  
I left all of my painting supplies.  
I took my painting and left it by the door to my room and left.  
 _I never looked back. Not until it happened._  
As soon as they began the evacuations, I went to the house.  
Lucinda came with me as well.  
But they were gone.  
The house was bare apart from the simple furniture and my painting, still left by my door.  
We tried the local hospital, but they wouldn't tell us anything.  
 _So we ran._  
The first week after the outbreak was the hardest.  
We tried to adjust to what all was happening, but it was going so quickly.  
The scavengers came and began starting trouble.  
That's when I lost Lucinda.  
I don't know if she was killed, taken or just lost.  
But I knew I was alone.

 _I was on my own for well over a month, just hiding out and barely getting by._  
 _I wanted things to calm down before I tried anything permanent._  
 _This time was when I picked up my scavenging skills._  
 _I had to be stealthy, smart and quick to avoid other bandits._  
 _But soon they all just disappeared and the world went quiet, apart from the dead._  
 _That's how I met Marcus._  
"Damn it!" I heard the man call out.  
I could hear the groans of a good amount of Walkers coming from the road.  
I was hidden in the tree line, watching.  
He tried to scavenge a parked truck on the road and became overwhelmed by Walkers.  
I let out a sigh and ran ahead and out of the trees, to one of the other cars.  
It was a newer looking car, one that didn't look too worse for the time and had a car alarm.  
I picked up a rock and chugged it at the passenger window and the alarm began screeching, pulling the Walkers away from the truck and towards the noise.  
I flanked around them and walked up to the truck.  
"Come on, we gotta go" I offered the man my hand.  
He carefully slid off the truck, his leg covered in blood.  
I backed quickly away from him.  
"Are you.." I started as I held up my knife.  
"No. No I'm not bitten. I cut it on the run" He spoke quickly, limping towards me.  
I stepped forward and slid myself under his arm, helping hold him up as we made our way away from the road, deep into the woods.  
After a while the alarm began to fade until it was gone, so we stopped.  
I helped him sit.  
"Let me take a look.." I slid his pants leg up to look at his wound.  
It was deep and dirty, but nothing major.  
"I'm Marcus. Thanks for saving me.." he started and sighed "Why did you? You could have gotten killed. I would assume most others would leave me for dead"  
I smiled up at him, "We can't lose who we are, who we were. Holding onto that is a big part of our survival in this world. And I'm Elizabeth, by the way"  
He smiled brighter down at me.  
"Well Elizabeth, I think we're going to get along nicely"

 _"Elizabeth please. I have lost so much already, I can't lose you. Not again.." his voice brought me back out of my thoughts._  
He was squeezing my hand tightly.  
I opened my eyes slowly.  
The room was now dark, lit only by a few candles.  
"I came back for you.." I spoke quietly.  
Negan sat up and leaned in closer to me.  
"We came back for both of you that day, the first day. But you were gone.." I turned to face him.  
"I know. I brought Lucille into the city for treatment. We were stuck when it happened.." his voice trailed off.  
"Is that how she died?" I asked, turning my hand over in his to lace our fingers together.  
"She was gone before it hit the news." he sighed, bringing my hand up to his face.  
I carefully pulled my hand from his and instead brushed my fingertips along his cheek.  
"I'm glad to see you awake, it was rough for a while. I thought.." his voice broke.  
"I'm not going anywhere." I laughed a bit.  
He sat up and kissed my forehead softly.  
I could tell he wanted to say more, but he couldn't.  
"Carson wants to keep you resting and sedated for awhile, to heal.." he seemed so unsure of this.  
But I welcomed it.  
I was tired of fading in and out and being stuck in between.  
"I'm so tired..." I whispered as I closed my eyes.  
He leaned in close again, to whisper in my ear.  
"Just please, hold on" his voice was desperate.  
I hadn't even noticed Carson come in the room, not until I felt the pinch in my arm and the warmth that came after it.  
I blinked the heaviness away as much as I could.  
Enough to watch Negan leave my room.  
Everything went dark again, but this time it wasn't cold and lonely.  
It was peaceful.

 ** _R & R is always appreciated! I was so emotional writing this ha, but I am so excited for this story line._**


End file.
